A Full Deck
by rargle-fargle
Summary: Blackfire has escaped Galatic Prison and seeks refuge on Earth. The Joker gets lonely without Batman and decides a change of scenery is best prescribed. And Raven is finally under control of her powers...kinda. There is yuri, there is lemon(sooner or later) and there is a plot(somewhere). This is gonna be good, slow and long. But good.
1. Chapter 1

Author Pre-Note(?) Things:

Didn't wanna dothis at the beginning but I kinda have to. So The Joker is gonna be in this story and The Justice League. I know ya'll love John DiMaggio Joker but I'm not using him. It's gonna be Justice League Joker! Why? Because Star Wars!

*whispering* P.S. I don't own anything, save the story

Chapter 1

_Dear Diary, _

_It's been a while. Sorry about that, haven't really had the desire to write anything for a while. Well, I guess I should get you up to speed with recent events. A few weeks ago the team had to go to Japan to take care of this bad guy called Brushogon who turned out to be the victim. The real villain was the chief of the Tokyo Police force. We won in the end. After the battle there was a ceremony were they named us all heroes of Tokyo. We all got medals, Cyborg was honored with an "all-HE-could-eat" buffet, Beastboy was mobbed by fan-girls and Starfire is now Robin's girlfriend…They made it official at the ceremony. _

_So I no longer have to listen/watch Star pine over Robin…I have to watch him hold her, every day. I guess I had this coming. I never told her how I felt, never spent time alone with her outside of going to the mall one every few months. I couldn't let myself because of my powers. I brought this on myself and I just have to grin and bear it…until I either die or retire. *sigh* Oh, we recently got a report from The Green Lantern that Tameran was attacked by an unknown enemy a few days after the Galactic Prison break out that happened._

_Star is currently in Robin's room crying about the incident. What concerns me was that Blackfire was one of the prisoners who escaped. Star is defended her "sister", saying things along the lines of her sister's pride as a Tameranian and never wanting to put her planet in danger. I don't buy it, she's ruthless and evil. _

_Well, that's all I can come up with for now, until next time._

_Oh, and on a lighter note the Donkey Chew" company is still sending me endorsement checks even though I told them not to. I might actually be moving out of the Tower in a while. Robin thought it was a good idea now that we're getting older and we now have quite a few members on the team after the Brotherhood of Evil thing. So I really can't be mad at him. _

"KILL THE TROQ!" an alien screamed into the intercom aboard the cargo ship he owned. He and his crew were delivering Sets, his people's backing for credits. His delivery was going well until he passed by Tameran. He had heard that the "savage world" had been attacked by pirates while he stopped to refuel at the station nearby, but pad it little mind. Now he was dealing with one of the Tameranians who managed to escape the siege and had "deemed it fit for a beast to stow-away" on his "_ghisttre_ ship".

Said Tameranian was now running from laser fire with a satchel full of Sets. 'I just had to get greedy before a fuel stop'. The Tameranian was tall for her age, standing at about six foot with long black hair, that shimmered a deep purple as she ran under the corridor lights, hanging just at her waist. Her skin was tan – almost orange – and dirtied from hiding in the waste compartment of the ship. Her battle armour was ripped along its sleeves from the grazing shots that flew by and dented and covered in blood from before making her way on to the cargo ship.

She turned a corner to avoid actually being hit with one of the lasers and hid in the waste disposal drop that was in the center of the wall. She climbed in and forced her limbs to keep her in place so she wouldn't fall down the narrow chute for who knows how long, only to end up in half eaten gas bladders and other nauseating items. She stayed quiet as she heard dozens of the anthromorphic aliens ran by; their metal boots clanking, panting and cursing grew fainter as the progressed down the hallway leaving her behind.

When she thought it was safe enough she crawled out her hiding place and got a good look around. The hallway was large, enough for the taller and wider aliens to walk comfortably with a lot of company. The walls were a pale grey, the metal rusting in areas where the sheets met. The lights were built into the corners above where the ceiling met the wall and ran along the fold for about half a meter and ended for a full meter, the pattern was throughout the ship. She stuck her head out into the corridor she was running through and looked down the way she was heading. She found a terminal at the next intersection and quickly flew down the path.

The terminal came a meter and a half up from the floor, but when she landed in front of it it rose to meet a comfortable height for her. 'Aw, how thoughtful', she thought, 'now if only you weren't a racist douchebag.' Sighing, she quickly tapped the touch screen menu going through the data logs. 'Holy crap, this operating system is ancient! Did that douche think that no one would be able to hack into this because it was so old?' She quickly opened up the BIOS for the and was able to override the password and username needed more important functions. She then had access to everything that the ship had, including the gravity and power output.

"Where the hell is that damn troq?" yelled the Captain. He stood taller than the others by a good meter, his chest was wide and his armour made him only look bigger. His normally blue skin was red with rage as his crew couldn't catch "a simple savage". "If you all are this worthless I'm might just hire the beast on a second-in-command!" As if on cue the doors, that led into the bridge, opened up behind the captain to reveal Blackfire with an uninterested look on her face.

"What's up?" before the captain could answer the lights went out and the gravity shut off. The captain, and present crew, were out of their seats and on the ceiling in an instant. "Apparently you", Blackfire smirked before raising her hand, a purple glow now lit the room, "sorry, but I don't like insects flying around while I work so…" she trailed off and threw a starbolt at the viewing window. It shattered and the captain and his crew were sucked out into the vacuum of space. Blackfire held onto the door and slammed down on the emergency shutters control next to the door. The span of the viewing window then shut closed with metal doors that had hazard patterns lining the top and bottom.

'Now that that's take care of', she thought, 'I can finally take a ba- '

"THERE'S THE TROQ!"

"…send these jackholes into orbit" Blackfire grimaced as she turned to see the remaining crew rushing down the corridor to her.

In an abandoned warehouse, in the docking district of Gotham, a woman clad in a towel and wearing white makeup all over her face, a black mask that only covered her eyes, and a strange head-piece was clicking away on a laptop sitting on a wooden box. She was very uninterested in most of the stories that she saw, mostly those involving celebrities and their children. Se perked up a bit when she read about a prison break, "Hey, Mr. J, come look at this thing about a space prison", she hollered in her shrill voice. After hearing a lack of response she called out even louder - and added a little more "Oomph" – "MR. J!"

"WHAT", was the reply, his tone revealed his annoyance, "what could possibly be so important, or interesting, that you had to holler at me while I was working, Harley?" The Joker's figure emerged from a darkened room, his raspy voice and angry tone made Harley shrink away from him.

"T-there was a p-prison break a f-few months ago" she stammered, her fear was well placed; her memories of Leslie, their former thug ran through her mind flashing images of the large man who's head now was stuck in a permanent smile and hot glued to a spring in a jack-in-the-box. She had noticed the Joker getting more and more violent as newer heroes now occupied Gotham in Batman's stead. Since he was now busy with the Justice League and he had become the punch line for his Greatest Joke, he began to slip into rage more often. He looked sickly and worked constantly, shutting himself from the world and crime until word of Batman being back in town reached him. Then he put on a show of the old Joker flare and showmanship. But with Batman's new schedule, he was usually cooped up in his lab, working, muttering. He only left when he needed a certain chemical or piece of technology and when he was in the act, he wouldn't tell a joke unless the listener had done something to aggravate him, the punch line now always ends with a bullet in the back.

"You disturbed me", The Joker began slowly, "with something that happens in this city once a WEEK? " His face was contorted with rage for an instant and then he smiled his toothy, deranged smile, the same smile he gave Leslie when he spilled coffee on The Joker's shirt. "You know", he began, "that reminds me a joke-"

"IN SPACE!" Harley had all but screamed the last bit of information, hoping it would do anything in her favor. It seemed to work as The Joker stopped smiling and appeared deep in thought. "Y-yeah, the Galactic Prison that the Green Lanterns run", feeling she was safe, she continued with her former enthusiasm, "it says here that lots of high profile baddies escaped and are most likely headed hear for revenge." The Joker continued to think, mulling over the information. Moments passed until he shrugged and turned around and started to leave, Harley continued talking. "Yeah, they pretty much had a full deck, literally even a queen from, uh- Tah-mer-aunt or whatever."

The Joker stopped, running the name through his head. "Tameran?"

"Yeah, that's it. Says she's wanted for theft, attempted murder, fraud, the woyks."

"Hmm, looks like we need to pay Bird-boy's new home town a visit", The Joker as he seemed to get a little excited, "Harley, get out the cake and balloons, I need to get Bird-brat his gift." The Joker chuckled as Harley hurried off to get dressed and get everything ready for the "party" that the Joker had planned for the Teen Titans.

"Friend, Raven, do you think that this would look pleasing for Robin or would this be more acceptable?" In Jump City, in Titan Tower, in Starfire's room the Tameranian Princess was waving two set of clothes in front of her body, alternating them so fast that they seemed to blur and merge into one. Raven, Starfire's oldest friend on the team was sitting on the edge of her teammates bed, looking bored despite the slight blush on her face.

"Well, Star, I might be able to give you my opinion", Raven started in a calm manner, "if you'd CALM DOWN!" Raven's sudden outburst caused Starfire to emit a slight _eep_ which caused Raven to blush more. Seriously, Star, you and Robin have been going out for a while now, I doubt he'd care what you looked like…wait, where are you two going anyway?"

"For a walk in the park", Starfire said in a nonchalant manner, causing Raven to blink a few times before she replied.

"WHAT? You mean you've been freaking out over a walk in the-what the hell is wrong with you?" As Raven shouted some of the small toys in Starfire's room started to glow a black light and levitated a few inches from their original places.

"Friend, Raven, you are doing it again", Starfire pointed it calmly. Raven noticed the toys floating before they dropped out of the air. "Are you sure your training with Dr. Fate and friend Zatana has, how do you say, played off?"

In the three months after their "trip" to Tokyo many more heroes have joined the Titans, including some former villains. Most of the newer heroes now lived in the tower with Starfire, Robin and Cyborg as their liaisons. Zatana, being one of the few magick users on the team, was paired with Raven on her first few missions along with Jinx. The three became friends quickly and only trained with each other to improve their respective magicks.

It was through this bond that Zatana offered Raven help with her powers by taking her to Dr. Fate. The powerful sorcerer used Raven's mirror to help focus her mind and keep her powers under control; this training took place in another dimension where time passed much faster. What should have taken three Earth years happened in the span of three weeks. According to Dr. Fate, she had progressed much better than he initially thought, allowing her to finish her training at her leisure on Earth; she still had an incident or two, but only happened when she was utterly confused or at a point of pure rage.

"Yes, I'm sure", Raven sighed, "Dr. Fate okayed me to finish my training here, on Earth, so I must have done acceptable at least…and it's _paid_ off."

"Oooh", replied Starfire, putting a finger to the corner of her mouth looking like a child who just figured out a secret, "very well, then." There was a moment of silence as Starfire continued digging through her closet, until-

[BEEP, BEEP, BEEP]

Both of their communicators went off, signaling danger. Both flipped open their devices and Robin's masked face greeted them. "I need everyone down in the common room, now! We've got major trouble", he ended grimly as the screen went black. The girls looked at each other exchanging a worried look, both knowing it was something of extreme importance if he needed everyone.

Robin stood in front of the TV in the common area, which doubled as their kitchen and entertainment space, arms crossed and looking very stressed as the rest of the team quickly filled the large space. Robin knew that with the size of the team, now, he needed to have the meeting where everyone could fit. His original team was their before the 10 others, Speedy and Kid Flash appearing last.

"So, Robin", started Cyborg, "what's the emergency?" Cyborg was Robin's best friend and second in command, he knew the situation was bad.

"We've got a big problem, it seems the-" Robin was interrupted by a loud maniacal laughter. "How did-" he muttered but was cut off again with The Joker's face on the screen behind him.

"Well, hello Bird-brain", The Joker began with his signature grin and flare, "it's been such a long time, I was starting to think you've gone and forgotten your Uncle JJ and Auntie Harley." The entire room was quite, every face took on a look of shock, except for Robin; Robin met The Joker's antics with a solid face reminiscent of his mentor. "Awe, don't look at me like that, Robby", continued The Joker sounding hurt, "and after all the trouble I went through preparing the party." Robin's eyes went wide, he knew how The Joker's parties usually went.

"Whoopsie doodles", The Joker feigning surprise before taking a darker tone, "I've gone and ruined the surprise. Well, no matter, but could you do your old Uncle Jay a favor and pretend to be surprised when you get here; it would mean the world to your guests." The camera spun around to reveal all of the political figures of Jump City, as well as some of their regular villains.

The mayor, his cabinet, the police chief, Mad Mod, Mumbo Jumbo, Johnny Rancid and Brother Blood were all their tied up to chairs and had party hats on. The villains screaming profanities while the rest were gagged with balloons. Harley could be was busy trying to blow up another balloon to gag Johnny. "Quite down you, you're getting on my nerves! Stupid balloon thing…"

The camera swung back to The Joker who was setting candles on a cake. "BONK! Who told you to turn the camera to me", The Joker looked furious when he noticed the camera on him, "no cake for you. Well as long as you're here get a close up on the cake will you." The camera shook as Bonk walked over to the cake to show the top. Robin slammed his fist on the table when he saw the image.

On the cake it read "Happy One Year Anniversary" in sloppy red icing while below showed a crowbar with google eyes. Next to the crowbar was an image of Robin, tied up next to a crude bomb made of icing. The camera was jerked up to show The Joker's smiling face "See you soon." The screen went black and the entire room was silent with Robin visibly shaking with rage.

Blackfire had been on Earth for a couple of months now, the money she had gotten from trading the cargo ship was enough for a smaller cruiser ship that she hid away in the nearby mountains and for a simple apartment in downtown Jump City. She had been hiding herself well in the city. She had gotten a fake I.D. and made some deals with the criminal network and had gotten herself a social security card and birth certificate. She was now Komilla Anderson, born in Jump General hospital 17 years ago and was orphaned at age 15. Her family wasn't terribly wealthy, but had enough to get her a nice apartment and a decent car, both were fully stocked with the latest technology.

She even had a job; she worked at a coffee shop at the corner of her street as a barista. _Everything's going according to plan_ she thought this at the end of every day. She believed that wholeheartedly, this was her back-up plan for when she knew she had hit zero-point-zero.

Her zero-point-zero was when she escaped to Tameran to gather her belongings only to be

ambushed by the Numbers. The Numbers were an elite force of assassin's, they are trained to never stop hunting until their prey is either captured or killed. She had barely escaped from the palace and managed to hide in the sewer systems for a few days. After that she assumed the numbers grew impatient and started bombing the surface of the planet. She escaped and sent The Numbers a lead that would send them to Grenthaxian space, light-years from Earth and in the opposite direction.

It was on her way to Earth at a fueling station that she learned that she was blamed for the attack on Tameran, Green Lantern in charge of that sector of space pointed her out as the instigator of the bombardment and declared that her motivation was revenge on the people that had forsaken her. So she decided that if she was now a war criminal for saving her planet from genocide then she would just disappear.

"So, that's one latte with foam, one latte no foam, and one chai tea, correct?" The three female students on the other side of the counter all smiled and nodded. "Alright, then that'll be $13.65." She accepted the money handed to her and gave back her correct change. Not a thought entered her mind outside of remembering the ingredients necessary to make the drinks. "This goes here, this here and pull the lever… hey Steve", Backfire called out.

"Yo."

"You used the foam machine last, right?"

"I left it running again, didn't I?"

"Yeah", Blackfire sighed, "Steve how are you not fired yet, seriously this is like the tenth time this week!" Before hitting her zero-point-zero she would have thrown all 135 lbs. of Steve out the front door, but she had learned patience. She had changed so much so that not a violent thought entered her head anymore. "Could you clean this up while I finish these drinks?" Steve gave a sheepish nod and did as he was told. When she had finished preparing the drinks she went out to deliver them to, on her way she greeted some of the regulars with high-fives and knuckle-bumps. The three women who ordered the drinks sat in the far back of the shop, next to the little library the shop had.

"Here you ladies go, three fine drinks for three fine women." All three giggled and blushed thanking her while she turned to get back to work. _Oh, yeah, all according to plan, _she thought to herself as she cleaned up a table on her way back to the counter. She was about to get back to work when she saw the screen of a customer's laptop. It was a live stream of the news and it showed a sickly looking man with a white face and green hair.

She tapped on his shoulder to get his attention, "hey, Joel, mind taking out your headphones so the rest of can hear?" The man nodded and unplugged his headphones.

"That's right citizens, it seems The Joker is in Jump City and has kidnapped the Mayor as well as his committee and several of our local villains. He has hacked into the jumbo-tron here in downtown and is broadcasting countdown timer." The news reporter turned to give the camera a clear view of the large screen behind her. The screen did have a countdown on it showing 4:27:13 and counting. Next to the timer were cartoon versions of the original Teen Titans wrapped in rope with a fuse burning and getting closer to them.

"That's just down the street", Blackfire mumbled before calling the attention of the coffee shop, "okay everyone we're closing early, don't blame me blame the crazies out there." Everyone nodded and quickly began packing their things to start leaving. Blackfire opened the door for them and told each of them to head home immediately, none of them argued because they all knew that she was right. Why put yourself in danger by standing in the middle of the street watching the timer hit zero when the bomb could be right underneath them.

As the last customer left Blackfire locked the door behind her and turned only to be almost run over by a green cheetah. _Holy crap, please don't recognize me, pleasepleaseplease._ The animal continued on down the street without giving her a another thought. "That was too close" she sighed and was about to start her way back to her apartment when she heard a familiar, rolling, raspy, angry voice from above.

"What was too close, Blackfire?"

_Aaaand not according to plan._ Blackfire looked up to see Raven quickly descending to her looking visibly furious.

"What the HELL are you doing here?" Raven was in her Titan outfit, already in a battle stance; while Blackfire was in her work "uniform" – dark blue jeans, a band t-shirt, black converse and a blue apron.

"Well I was making drinks for three very attractive women until your clown friend decided to start doing things" Blackfire replied with a grin.

"Yeah, like I'll beli-what now?"

"Yeah, three students from the college a down the street, they were pretty attractive but none of them were my type, so I settled for making them lattes" Blackfire answered with a look of boredom whilst checking her fingernails, "but like I said, that deranged clown started doing things so I sent everyone home."

"I-I…um…what?" Raven was clearly confused. _First this thing about girls and coffee and thinking about other safety, something doesn't feel right about this._

"Anyway", Blackfire started still nonchalant, "you've probably got something to do and I need to get home. Do me a favor and not tell your friends I'm in town, Kay? Thanks! Bye." Blackfire attempted to walk around Raven but was met with a wall of black in the shape of a large bird. She glanced at Raven, "you know for being a symbol of Righteousness and justice you're very rude."

"What are you doing here Blackfire?" Raven glaring daggers at Blackfire.

"I told you, I was serving coffee to some hotties and-"

"Enough with the lies, Blackfire!" Raven shouted, interrupting Blackfire, "why the hell are you here?" Blackfire gave Raven a tired expression then a defeated sigh.

"Fine, if you don't believe me come to my place when you're done dealing with the Circus Freak." Blackfire took out a piece of paper and a pen and began writing, "here's my address, but seriously don't tell the others about me. If you do I'll make sure you won't find me again." She finished writing and held the paper out to Raven while wearing a neutral expression. Raven cocked her eyebrow but slowly accepted the paper with a nod. Blackfire smiled, "thanks, now get going. You have hero stuff to do." Before going on her way Blackfire leaned in a gave Raven a peck on the cheek before flying off to her apartment balcony, that was across the street, leaving Raven even more confused.

Behind the Jumbo-tron that had been broadcasting the countdown sat a very bored Joker. The mad man was sprawled over some of the "guests" while moaning in boredom; his right arm hung freely over Johnny Rancid's legs, a crowbar in hand. "I thought bird-brat would have found me by now", complained the deranged clown, "HARLEY where's the guest of honor, the ice cream is starting melt!"

Harley began clicking away at a computer; the screen showed cartoon versions of the Teen Titans heads, all of them moving about the city. "Uh, the closest one to us is that freaky kid with the leotard."

"Harley…they're superheroes, they all wear 'tards…HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Speedy was running through the warehouses by the docks of Jump City panting into his communicator, "So why...didn't…we…call…The Justice…League?" He was talking with Cyborg who was driving the T-Car in the northern part of Jump.

"Because of the deal we have with them", Cyborg paused as he zoomed around the corner of the street he was on; a man wearing white clown make-up and wearing a tutu was driving after him in a garbage truck that had been modified with a functioning mouth mounted on its front. "The only way that we would be able to operate, without being a part of The Justice League, was to agree to handle any problems that happened in our cities without help from any Leaguers. They would have shut us down if we declined and forced us to behave like civilians otherwise."

"Okay…so why…didn't…we have…Raven, or Zatana for that matter…track…The Joker…with a locator spell or something?"

"That was the first thing that Raven told me after the video feed cut, apparently he's using some weird magick to hide himself by copying his aura in several parts of the city."

"So that would explain smiley here." As Speedy disappeared behind the closest building a large purple-haired dog with a White muzzle and red lips crashed through one of the warehouse doors behind him. The canine stood at least 15 meters tall and wore a blunt tooth smile as it sniffed the air for Speedy's scent. The teenager in question was just around the corner, his face wet with sweat as he heard the dog perk up._ Crap_.

"So why aren't we with Raven, again?"

"Because, Jinx", started Zatana whilst flying next to her friend as she jumped from roof-top to roof-top in the north-eastern part of Jump, "we needed enough teams to search the city and Raven is stronger than both of us so she should be alright on her own."

"What about us!" Trailing the pair was a Jack-in-the-box, the size of a truck, hopping just a roof-top behind. On the streets below was a small android version of Harley Quinn swing an over-sized sledge hammer. "How the hell are these things protected from our magick?"

"I have no idea, but if we don't think of something fast we might end up-"Zatana was cut off by a laser shot that passed just by her head. She turned to see, from mouth of the Jack, what looked like a canon.

Back in The Joker's temporary hideout, "Well, since it seems that we're too good at hide-and-seek maybe we should just blowout the candles for him." The Joker walking up to a large red button that was coming out of the wall, "shame really, it turns out that step-father like step-son really is a thing after all."

"Three months of planning and nuthin', humph", Harley pouted. She looked over at the guests, "oh, well I guess the you guys get to deliver the present." The Joker pressed the button and started on his way out, leaving an envelope on long party table next to the cake.

"Come on, Poo, at least we get to see the finale from our new summer home", The Joker smiled as Harley quickly packed the camera and dragged Bonk out the door. His face gone dark with his red eyes penetrating the darkness, "tell the kid I said 'hello' won't you; last time the message didn't make it through."

Raven was just passing the pizza shop in downtown Jump when she glanced at the Jumbo-tron. The timer was now speeding through the, supposed, remaining time. _What the?_ She began to panic until she got an idea._ It couldn't be that easy could it?_ She decided to test her luck and used her powers to phase through the clock. _This has got to be a bad joke._ On the other side she found those kidnapped by The Joker; however they seemed more panicked than relieved. Mumbo Jumbo began thrashing his head about towards the wall opposite him. Raven followed the motion and saw that the wall was hidden behind crates of dynamite. _Crap_.

Cyborg and Robin had just met at the Jumbo-tron, both looking exhausted. "Let me guess, you got a surprise to?" Cyborg nodded as he turned to face the timer and gasped.

"We're out-" was all Cyborg could get out before the Jumbo-tron exploded, taking the building it was mounted on with it. The teens ducked behind the T-car as debris bombarded their location. "Damn it!" The building was barely standing as the black smoke poured from the gaping hole in its side. Robin fell to his knees cursing The Joker with every breath. "Hey, man, we'll get him. He'll pay for this and – "

"Could you to stop your girl talk and help me get these people out of here?

Raven had emerged from the smoke, her magick surrounding the kidnapped and slowly levitating them down to the street. "Hey, Rae, could you give us a little warning before you do something like that" Cyborg called to his long-time friend. Raven smirked in response and released the magick around the civilians, but kept it up on the villains; she was not about to let the known villains walk off. Ambulances, fire-trucks and squad cars had started to pour in to do their jobs and get the people to wear they needed to be.

As the civilians were taken to the police station for questioning the Teens helped get the villains in the police vehicles to send the off. Robin was putting Mad Mod in the back of one of the squad cars; during Mad Mod's protest the balloon-gag slipped off, "Oi, wait a tick there you little snot!"

"And just why should I?"

"The sicko wanted a message delivered, he told us to tell you 'hello', no bloody clue what th's 'bout but he also lef you a lil sumfin." Robin paused and eased his grip on the Cockney man. "He lef you a letta with that Rancid bloke o'er there." Robin nodded and turned to ask one of the police officers if they had seen the letter but Mod began again. "He also said that the las time he lef someone wif a message, dey neva got 'round to it; what did he do las time I wonder and who was it that was 'spose tah delver, eh?" Robin spun around to verbally beat the man, but stopped when he saw him.

Mad Mod looked sick. Almost green and wore a heavy look on his face. Robin sighed, quelling his anger, "he took someone before their time." With that Mad Mod nodded and quietly entered the police car, not bothering to look up as it sped off. Robin pulled out his communicator and called for reports on the rest of the team, expecting the worst.

"Okay, team" Robin called out to everyone in the Tower, "I know what you all are thinking." A guilty look appeared on most of the faces in the room. "It's alright, I can understand being curious. What The Joker meant by anniversary is…" he paused, not knowing how to explain and began to mumble, "i-it's the anniversary of Robin's death." Everyone perked up at this. "Not me, of course, but my replacement. The Robin that Batman took on when I left Gotham. It was one year ago today that he killed him." Robin had begun trembling. "One year ago today that that bastard murdered a child."

Starfire quickly flew to Robin's side as he collapsed to the floor shaking violently. Cyborg dismissed the team and went to his friend's side to and helped to his room. Raven, Zatana, Jinx and Beastboy stayed behind in silence, all thinking about what they just heard. All four deciding not to discuss the topic, without Robin, headed off to do their own things.

At the entrance to Titan Tower Jinx, Zatana and Raven bid goodbye to Beastboy. As the shape-shifter transformed into a bird and flew off Jinx looked at Raven. "So, how you doin', Blackbird?" The other magick users knew about Raven's crush on Starfire, they had to guess because Raven would never just come out and say it.

"I don't know what you're talking about" a smirk finding its way on Raven, "Lucky~." Jinx blushed at the pet-name, crossing her arms and facing the sea. Zatana looking on with a smile. They all had nicknames for each other, but Lucky was reserved for only Raven's use; neither knew why that name got such a reaction out of Jinx, as they were too busy laughing to delve deeper.

"Whatever, so Rabbit, where do you wanna go" Jinx now speaking to Zatana, "I'm starving." Both Raven and Zatana sighed _This girl never stops eating!_ "I'm thinking Chinese" Jinx continued while rubbing her flat stomach and licking her lips. Zatana shrugged and she and Jinx turned to face the city and started walking. Jinx noticing that someone was missing turned to see Raven looking back at the Tower. "Hey, Blackbird, you comin' or what?"

Raven, still staring at the Tower, absentmindedly replied, "Nah, I kinda have plans for the afternoon. I'll see you guys at home, okay." Her friends, and roommates, shared a quick glance and shrugged before Zatana levitated them off towards the city. Raven watched as her friends flew off and slowly removed a crumpled paper from her sleeve. _I guess, now's a good time as any._

Steam was rising from the bottom of Blackfire's bathroom door and singing could be heard throughout her apartment. In the middle of her song, Raven had phased through the door when she heard no answer after knocking for a good five minutes. She was greeted by Blackfire's voice. W_ow_

**Sprach sie ihren **

**Liebsten an**

**Ob er es ihr**

**steigen kann**

**Sie will es und **

**so ist es fein**

**So war es und **

**So wird es immer sein **

**Sie will es und **

**So ist es Brauch**

**Was sie will **

**Bekommt sie auch**

Raven didn't hear the water stop, nor did she hear the door open. She was lost in a daze when Blackfire emerged from a wall of steam using her towel to dry her hair…and not cover her body.

**Tiefe Brunnen**

**Muss man graben**

**Wenn man **

**Klar-**

Blackfire stopped singing and stared at Raven, her towel now draped over her shoulders and not covering anything important. She blinked a few times, making sure she wasn't seeing things and then "WHAT THE HELL, RAVEN!"

"What am I at now?"

"Nine hundred and sixty-four."

Raven let out a sigh and continued, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry", Blackfire mentally keeping track. While Raven continued he apology Blackfire had gotten dressed, read two magazines and sorted her mail. Now she was getting hungry and started poking through her refrigerator.

_Let's see, milk, 968, eggs, 969, cold tacos, 970, cold fries, 971… _ Blackfire had pulled out about six eggs and quickly found a frying pan. She whipped up to orders of French omelets with rosemary and cut a baguette into neat one inch slices and toasted them in the oven._ 1049, 1050, 1051, 1052, 1053, _"Okay, pervert, you can stop!" Raven let out a sigh just as the oven timer went off. Blackfire plated the toast sliced before pulling out a container of French butter. Raven watched as she set her table for two people, which confused her.

When Blackfire finished setting the table she sat down and looked at Raven, "Well, get your as over her so we can eat!" Raven jumped a bit at the sudden command before reluctantly taking her seat opposite of the former alien princess. They had both gotten halfway through the meal before Blackfire decided to break the silence. "I usually have to be taken out on a few dates before I even think about letting a girl see me naked, you know." Raven choked a bit on her toast.

"W-what the hell *cough cough* are you talking about?"

"Well not usually because I really haven't had a girl who could keep me interested past the second date but it's a rule I follow, you know like those unspoken ru-"

"I'm talking about the girl thing!" Raven near shouted while Blackfire just gave her a confused look.

"What about it?"

"Since when were you a lesbian?"

"Iono, since when did you have a crush on my sister?"

"I-I.." Raven stuttered as her face took on a pale red. _How the hell does everyone know about that?_ She wondered incredulously. Raven eventually gave a sigh of defeat before hanging her head. "I don't know, a while I guess. What about you, is this inviting me over thing just a way for you to get in my pants?"

"So it's working" Blackfire said slyly, causing Raven to start stuttering nonsense while making her blush grow. "Relax, I was joking" Blackfire said with a small fit of giggles. Seriously though, I told you that I would explain why I'm here if you dropped by so I'll tell you…as soon as we're done eating."

After the meal Blackfire cleared the table and rejoined Raven at the table; her elbows resting on the table-top and her fingers interlaced in front of her face. "So here's the abridged version, I escaped Galactic prison, went home to get my stuff, was attacked by a group of elite assassins, framed for the near genocide of my people, stole a cargo ship, sold the cargo ship, got an apartment, a car, a forged identity, a job and a thing for brunettes." Blackfire kept a straight face as she finished causing Raven to frown.

"Could you please be the least bit serious?"

"Sorry, without trying to beat your friends to a pulp and not running around most of the known universe stealing priceless jewels I needed to put my infallible wit to good use, so why not?"

"I'll bet." Raven stared into Blackfire's eyes, trying to sense any thoughts of ill will, plans for revenge, anything really. "I believe you, but I still trust you."

"And just like old times you make me think I accomplished something" Blackfire replied with a sigh. "Oh well, I guess it be that much harder to get in your pants later." This caused Raven to blush and, in turn, send a magazine flying across the room." Blackfire looked back with an annoyed look, "geez, I was kidding! You don't have to mess up my place." Raven averted her gaze and scratched the back of her head, still blushing.

"S-sorry" she stuttered "that happens sometimes." Blackfire just shrugged and went to put away the rogue magazine. "Soooo, a coffee girl, huh" Raven asked trying to break her nervousness "didn't really expect that after, y'know evil empress and" Blackfire was giving her trademark smirk, "…yeah…"

"Gee, Rea, you sure know how to talk to girls; I should take notes because I obviously have no idea what I've been doing this entire time, talking: about the weather –"

"Sorry…"

"school-"

"I said I was sorry…"

"how attractive she looks in that top"

"All right I get it-"

"No, I should have been asking about how they went from a ruler of a planet to a barista at a café"

"I GET IT!" The same magazine flew up and against the window. Raven blushed and started to apologize, but saw Blackfire trying her hardest not to laugh, her hands covering her mouth, her eyes squinted and tearing with an occasional raspberry being blown because of how tight she held her mouth shut. Raven was shocked; she had known – about - Blackfire for the better part of her teen years and every time she had seen her she always walked with an air of graceful, savage strength. She was all those traits in one person. She was learned to graceful being the eldest Tameranian princess. And she always emanated an aura of strength, she demanded it without speaking a word and her savagery was only ever seen in battle, she could wipe out an army of her own on her own and Raven knew that. However, seeing her in such an opposite state, Raven couldn't help but laugh.

Now it was Blackfire's turn to be stunned – although she hid it much better – she'd never heard Raven laugh before and had only seen her smile twice before. _Well, what do y'know, looks like she can get that stick out of her ass every once in a while._ Raven kept laughing for a bit after her host stopped to enjoy the sounds of her laughing. _Didn't expect her to be a snorter…oh god._

"Well that was thoroughly uneventful", pouted The Joker, "how is one supposed to wreak havoc and break the law if there isn't a hero to try and stop the villain?" The Joker was pacing in his new hideout, specially made for his stay in Jump City. "And they were late, very unprofessional." Harley, Bonk and Leslie 2 were sitting on a purple couch watching their boss as he ranted about the Teen Titans. "Babies are more punctual than they are and they even show up early sometimes." The Joker let out a sigh before looking out the window of his "meeting room".

"Maybe I'm just getting old, back when it was just me and Bat-sy we could go for days and not give one hoot." The Joker walked over to a large chair that sit in the shadows of the large room, the moonlight lighting only the area with the couch and kitchen. "Everything was so much simpler way back when," The Joker sat on the chair, its back looking high and cushioned in red velvet. He sat staring at the ceiling with a small frown on his face.

Harley and his goons peering over the top of the couch's back, only the tops of their heads poked over up to their noses. "Mama Harley" Bonk whispered, "what's wrong with Papa Jay?" His high pitch voiced was that of a small child, a little girl.

"I don' know Bonk, honey" replied Harley as she flopped back in to a normal sitting position in between Bonk and Leslie 2. "Come on kids, let's go get dinner started." Harley stood up and wrapped her arms around herself, "let's make chicken fingers tonight, kay?" Leslie 2 and Bonk jumped up from their places on the couch and cheered for their favorite dinner, both rushing for the kitchen. Harley let a small smile etch itself on her dark coloured lips, she followed her kids as she continued to hold herself all the while thinking of her time in Arkham, when she met Bonk and the first Leslie. _Yeah, I guess they were._

In downtown Jump there is an iconic pizza shop that has served it's heroes for years, at that pizza shop was a pink haired young woman with her friend who only wore stockings and the top of a tuxedo. _Does this girl ever stop eating?_ Zatana watched in mild shock as her Jinx shoved more and more pizza down her mouth. _She could beat out Cyborg, Beastboy and Speedy combined!_ "S-so, Charm, why the random food invite?"

Jinx put down her current slice of pizza before sighing and leaning back in her chair, arms crossed, "Blackbird's been blowing us off for a few weeks now and I needed you to help me find out why." A sad look in Jinx's eyes flashed, before becoming an annoyed one, so fast that only Zatana or Raven could have spotted it. Zatana gave her a small friendly smile before agreeing to the brainstorming of Raven's habits.

"Great…now let me finish my fifths and we can get started!" Zatana nearly face-palmed before remembering who her friend was.

"So where do we start?" Zatana asked Jinx as they patrolled downtown.

"Well, it's Raven, so she shouldn't be hard to find." Replied Jinx as she held her hands behind her head, "she's most likely in a bookstore or the Music Place." Zatana shrugged in confirmation. They both silently agreed that a boon to Raven's behavior was that she was very predictable when it came to hang-outs.

After checking all the bookstores in downtown Jump and crawling through the "goth" section in Raven's favorite music store, Music Place, the – now – duo found themselves in the park next to Jump University and out of breath. "Where…the hell…is she" Jinx wheezed out.

"No…idea."

Jinx stood holding her arms above her head to get better oxygenated and looked around. "C'mon, we can get something to drink over there…and maybe get a few coffee cakes."

"Don't you ever stop eating?"

"If I stopped then what would be the point?"

Inside the coffee shop was a very gloomy looking girl, with a book and black coffee, sitting at the table closest to the cashier. "So what do you wanna do today, and don't say bookstore or Music Place."

Raven and Blackfire had been meeting each other for the past weeks as friends, they hung out at all of Raven's favorite places and went to a party every so often – after much begging from Blackfire. They had become fairly good friends in such a short amount of time and both knew that. Raven learned quite a bit about her new friend, such as: her favorite colours, magazines, bands, types of woman – against Raven's objections – and that Blackfire was a master of Psysis meditation; one of the forgotten forms from before Trigon's first conquest.

The form focuses on balance and inner sight and control, to the point where one could change their nature and mood at will. Raven had begun taking small lessons in exchange for Blackfire having someone to hang out with that she wasn't trying to bed.

"Komi, if you wanted to know where I wanted to go then don't bar my favorite places from the list." Raven replied while taking a sip of her coffee, her eyes never leaving her book.

"But you pick the most boring places" Blackfire whined, "the only good part about the Music Place is that cute cashier girl –Hello, how may I help you?" Raven smiled as Blackfire assisted the customer. "Thank you, come again. And she doesn't work today!"

"Raven cocked her brow, "You know her work schedule?"

"Wednesdays through Saturdays from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM and Mondays from 4:30 PM to closing" Blackfire recited with a disinterested look about her.

Randy, her co-worker, emerged from the back carrying a tray of coffee cakes. "Geez, Komilla, when did'ya meet her?"

"Like last week, I guess" shrugging her response.

"Damn, you work fast!"

"Only if they're hot", retorted Blackfire while crossing her arms as if to make a point.

"You saying Rae's not hot then?" Steve, also coming from the back carrying a tray of lemon squares. Randy whistled in agreement of Steve's accusation. Steve turning to Raven before removing his paper uniform hat and bowing, "please, forgive our dear Komilla for this grave injustice. I ask that you take my life in place of hers so that she may redeem herself in some way." The door opened but everyone was too busy watching the show to take any notice.

Raven let a smirk on her face before shooting up with her arms crossed. "This I cannot do, my loyal subject, she must pay for her transgressions with her life," Raven sounding very royal," I am sorry, Komilla, you know the ways of our people, There is nothing I can do." Blackfire dropped to her knees while Randy grabbed a spoon and stood behind her as if a guard in a palace would, stiff with his "helmet" covering most of his face, his "spear" in hand.

"No, forgive me my Queen, " Blackfire spouted overdramatically whilst crawling over to Raven, under the little top-flip door that separated the prep-area from the tables., "you know my love is only for you!" Blackfire clutching at Raven's jeans. "As is my heart…" Blackfire slowly climbing up Raven's body, with Raven holding her hands. "My soul…" Blackfire was pressed against Raven, cradling her chin in the crook of her pointer, their lips centimeters apart with Blackfire above Raven. "My…body" Blackfire whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. After a pause and a thick silence from the entire café, all four burst out laughing while the regular customers clapped and brava-ed at the performance. Each taking their time bowing and thanking everyone.

Blackfire snaked an arm around Raven's waist before pulling her close and doing a low bow with her impromptu co-star. "See what happens when you don't go to the bookstore" whispered Blackfire cheekily before rising up with Raven.

"Yes, I got groped by an alien" whispered Raven in response before going for another bow.

"I didn't grope you, do you see my hands on your boobs."

"You used your boobs to grope my boobs!"

"I CAN THAT!" Blackfire near shouted with stars in her eyes and a squee in her voice.

Raven's eye twitched, "STOP BEING SO DAMN PERVER-"

"B-blackbird?" Raven stopped midsentence to blink a few times before turning and seeing Jinx and Zatana with shock across their faces.

"Uh…heh, hey guys" Raven stuttered, her embarrassment shone on her face. Blackfire came from behind Raven, replacing her arm around her waist before greeting the two.

"Hey, I'm Komilla and you two must be Jinx" Blackfire pointed to Jinx, " and Zatana, right" she repeated the action with the latter. Both nodded in acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you guys" Blackfire said before leaning down to Raven's ear and whispering, "Blackbird, huh?"

"Yeah, whatever" retorted Raven, crossing her arms and turning away from Blackfire pouting. Blackfire's hold never relenting as she pulled her closer and began teasing her about her nickname. Zatana looked on with a smile, she was happy that Raven's training paid off. She was able to express herself without something blowing up or fling across the room.

"You know you could've told us you went and got yourself a girlfriend, we would have understood" Jinx suddenly put in, her tone wavering a bit while she chuckled at the pair.

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"I'm not her girlfriend!"

Both women said quickly before blushing and turning away from each other. Jinx and Zatana both resumed their shock at the news. "It's true" called Randy from behind the counter, " no matter how hot they would look together they ain't together." Steve sniffed a bit and rubbed a knuckle to his nose muttering something along the lines of "a cryin' shame".

"So why didn't you wanna tell us about her?" Jinx asked as she dodged a paint pellet that splattered on the hay bale behind her. Raven, Jinx and Zatana were convinced to head to the paint ball course in the western part of Jump. She had also managed to convince two of the instructors to be her partners fo match. Currently Jinx and Raven were stuck in an open area where the only covers comes from three hale bales each approximately three meters apart.

"Do we really have to do this now?" Raven muttered as another pellet collided with the hay bale, just above her head.

"I'm just curios is all!" called out Jinx as she raised her gun above her cover and fired blindly in what she thinks is there general direction. "Besides you blew us off for, like, three weeks! Do you know how worried we were about you?"

"Guys" Zatana called from her hay bale.

"Like I can't take care of myself!"

"Guys"

"We're your friends, we worry when you act strange!"

"Guys"

"Sorry, if I didn't want to go eat Chinese food with you to everyday, but did you forget that we're roommates!"

"Gu-mmph"

"And you acted weird when you were home, usually we'd at least meditate for a while together but NO you just went straight to your room at the end of the day. We hardly ever saw you and you acted like nothing was wrong JUST. LIKE. ALWAYS!"

"Uh, Lucky."

"WHAT!"

"You lose" Jinx turned to see Blackfire crouched in her hay bale looking down at her with her gun pointed right between her brow.

"Cra-YEEOOW!"

"Quit touching it, will you!" Zatana hand swatted Jinx's hand away from the large welt on her forehead for the umpteenth time. "Jeez, you're like a little kid."

"Hey, don't you turn on me too, now" whined Jinx before cautiously raising her finger to her forehead again with a curious look on her face. "d-damn that hurts…" she hissed as she made contact.

"Congratulations, you've helped prove that there is no intelligent life up there" Raven smirked behind Jinx who whipped around to Blackfire with her arm around Raven, again. Both of them chuckling at her expense.

"Y'know, for people who aren't together you two sure are real close together."

"What's the matter, Jinx" Blackfire began, " jealous that I got a pretty woman to keep me warm?"

Jinx blushed at the thought, "n-not in the l-least, I mean with the way Raven is she's more likely to freeze you than keep you warm." Jinx forced a laugh, but Blackfire just smirked.

"Well, then I guess, I'll just have to keep **her **warm!" Blackfire put another arm around Raven and pulled her in close causing Jinx's blush to cover her entire face. Meanwhile Raven tried to struggle out of Blackfire's bone-crushing hug.

"Jeez, if you're gonna strangle me when you complain about it being cold I'll just let your ass freeze!"

"But, RaeRae, it's cold~" Blackfire whined loudly. Hearing her new nickname from Blackfire made her blush furiously and levitate a few pebbles that were out of immediate sight. Raven stammered as she tried to form something intelligent that would hopefully sound like a word.

"Pfft, ReaRea?" Zatana giggled from the front of the group. Jinx was shocked that someone had actually called her that. Raven, however was just too embarrassed to think straight.

"Komi" Raven growled under her breath.

And with that I take my leave" Blackfire quickly pulled away from Raven and the group and shot up some stairs. They were passing Blackfire's apartment building and the stairs that led to her floor just happened to be close by. "I'll see you ladies later!" With that and a quick wink she disappeared from the stairs and into the hallway.

"She is so dead tomorrow!" growled Raven as Zatana struggled to quell her giggle fit. Jinx just stood there focused on Raven. _It was so much easier back then._

Author Note Things:

So this is the story that is gonna be my baby and will be working on more often than **? is For What's ? **Both stories will eventually get to the lemony goodness because of reasons.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Pre-Note(? Still not sure if it's called that) Things:

So because you're all eager with all the favorites and follows, I decided to postpone some drawings I was working on to do this chapter. It totally has nothing to do with my being sick enough not to go to work, but not sick enough to goof off for the week. No…of course not…

And before anyone complains about characters being out of character, this is future and this is how expect them to act with the premise I set in my notes.

At the, newly built, Arkham building in the out skirts of Jump a figure made its way over the three story wall. After returning from the incident with the Brotherhood of Evil Robin put in a request with the Wayne Enterprises to have an Arkham branch built in jump. The new building would be fitted with the latest technology to hold those with and without meta-human abilities. Those with salvageable psychosis would be placed in the main building and those who operate on instinct, like Cynderblock or Plasmus, would be held in the underground holding area; In the underground facility special room were developed to meet each of its inmates special needs. The entire building was designed by Dick Greyson and was done so with the wide range of super villains that Jump is known for in mind.

The figure passed by several guard patrols, suing the night to his advantage, with more ease than he expected, making a mental note that they should increase the amount of guards in certain areas. The figure made its way to the side of the building where a basement window was waiting for him. On reaching his current goal, the figure rummaged around his belt and pulled a small torch from a hidden pocket and immediately went to work.

It only took him a few seconds to cut through the special metal that covered the frame of the entrance. The metal was designed by Luscious Fox, his cure for meta-humans whom could normally melt a safe vault wouldn't be able to heat to scorch it without first exposing it to specific flammable gas. Once he slid in he applied a strange jelly to the metal, following the damage he created. The jelly bubbled furiously, but silently, and hardened mimicking the metals properties.

Once making sure that he wasn't seen or heard the figure made its way up and around the stairs and corridors of the Asylum. The inside was vastly different from the outside, in that, instead of the expected wood furnishing and Victorian atmosphere the interior was very plain. The walls were a solid white and the floors were tiled with an off-white just like the ceiling. All the fixtures were a slate color and the furniture was either a futuristic plastic or an obvious steel. The recreation area was designed similarly with the same color and material scheme throughout.

The figure gave a quick visual sweep, making another note that it looked like a futuristic waiting room. The figure new exactly where he was going, he knew which room, and he knew when the patrols would pass and when they would return. He made his way up to the fourth floor and down the western corridor. The room were number with the floor number preceding the actual room number. 427. The door, just like all the others, were made of the same metal from before. It was thick, had a small window in the upper center and had a small terminal just to the right of the frame.

The figure reached into his left sleeve, pulling out a copy of the doctor key cards required to open the time sensitive doors. He swiped it and the door opened. Inside was an elderly man, his crown bare of hair and his square framed spectacles hanging loosely on his nose. He was crouched over a desk that folded into the wall, fiddling with something. "Can I 'elp you, lad?" came a uninterested question.

~Three months earlier~

"Hey, Rabbit" Raven called from the top of the stairs, "have you seen Lucky?" Raven was home at her apartment in upper Jump. She roomed with Zatana and Jinx. They had taken up secret identities to avoid possible threat from any villains wanting to get revenge. Raven had decided to use her real name as her cover, Racheal Roth. Her friends had done the same with Zatanna, being already known kept her name the same, and Jinx, who had become Lucy Jade.

"She's been bugging me about going to the mall with her to get a welcoming gift for Bumble Bee" Raven continued as she came down into the common area for the apartment. The apartment had a bit of all of them in personality. There was a large leather sofa pushed against the wall and a large flat screen TV opposite. The floor was hardwood with a black rug connecting the sofa to the TV where Zatanna was watching a nature documentary.

On either side of the TV were towers and below was a set of shelves that connected them. Their entertainment center was commissioned by Jinx and held movies, TV series box sets, anime, comics, manga, books and tomes, and a game console sided by various video games. The kitchen was visible from the sofa and had a large refrigerator and black marble counter tops for the rest. There were pictures along the wall that followed the staircase that displayed the three hanging out around town.

Zatanna shrugged and mumbled an "uh huh", lost in the documentary. Raven's eye twitched, irked by her friend's tendency to daze for hours when a documentary was on. Zatanna loved to learn so she found it humorous, at first, when the studious and level-headed magician blank out when something of the sort played. "Zatanna!" Raven raised her voice to get her attention.

In response, she lazily lifter a finger to the hallway restroom. As if on cue, Jinx emerged from the door patting down her skirt. Her hair was in a low pony tail, and she wore a purple plaid skirt with thigh high sock that had little cat's speckled over a striped grey and black background. She wore a plain black v neck and black canvas sneaker to complete her look.

"Quit your complaining, I'm ... ready" Jinx trailed off. Raven stood in front of her with a hand on her hip looking annoyed. Jinx didn't notice the look Raven was giving her. She was fixed on her attaire, Raven wore a simple beige sweater that hugged her frame and dark blue skinny jeans. A black leather belt hung loosely on her waist and dipped under her hip, drawing Jinx's eyes lower to Raven's shoes. Mid-thigh, black, heel boots gave Raven another inch making the two the same height.

Raven grew impatient again, her brow creasing from her irksome friend. "Are we going or are you just going to stare at me like an idiot?" Raven snapping at her brought Jinx back to reality blushing.

"D-Do you really need to make yourself taller?" Jinx chuckled out nervously. "Didn't think you were that self-conscious, Blackbird." Raven glared at her another few moments before turning and heading out the door. "Hey, wait for me!" Jinx hurried after her leaving Zatanna alone.

"She's so clueless" muttered Zatanna as a pack of lionesses tore into a giraffe.

Raven and Jinx were walking down the center of the mall, both wondering how they weren't recognized. Jinx, Raven noticed, was acting unusually bubbly. She had a bounce in her step and a small smile burned onto her face. _She knows I just that endorsement check, doesn't she _Raven thought to herself as they rounded the corner and found herself at the food court. _That sneaky-_

"Hey wanna get something to eat, my treat" Jinx asked, her smile never leaving her.

'Uh, sure."

"Great!" Jinx led the way through the sea of people by grabbing Raven's wrist. _Finally some alone time! That Komilla hogged Raven for a good month._ Jinx stopped in front of Raven's favorite sushi bar. _Now I get to sit back and enjoy Raven without that tan womanizing little sl-_

"Hey, ReaRea!"

_SONOFA-_

Blackfire appeared, seemingly, out of nowhere and had already snaked her arm around Raven's waist. Blackfire had on a black, band t-shirt and a red plaid skirt. A long strap purse hung on her shoulder and a few metal bracelets jingled on both of her wrists. Her hair was in a low, lazy ponytail that had little bird charms hanging from the hair tie. Her long legs were covered by thigh high red and black striped socks that led down to a pair of canvas sneakers that were covered in peace signs and rainbows. "What are you two doing here?" Jinx still had her hand on Raven's wrist, trying ever so subtly to pry her from the – unbeknownst to her - alien.

"Oh, hey, Komi" came Raven's natural tone, even and cool.

_K-KOMI?! WHEN THE HELL DID SHE GET A NICKNAME?_

"Jinx wanted to get something for a friend of ours" Raven continued, "she's moving here from Steel City." Jinx had given up on subtly and was now effectively dragging both Raven and Blackfire to the counter of the sushi bar.

"That's interesting and all, but I was wondering what you two were doing standing in line."

"Waiting for our turn to order, Ko-mi" Jinx tried her best to mock Blackfire pet name, but her anger made seem more like a sneer than anything. Raven didn't notice or didn't say anything, Blackfire however took it as a challenge.

Blackfire smirked before replying, "are you saying that there's nothing you can do about that?" Raven cocked her eyebrow and Jinx did the same. "Wow, so it isn't just Raven who doesn't know how to talk to girls" earning a blush and a glare from both of them. 'Just tell me what you guys want and go find somewhere to sit, kay?"

"Hey, wait a minute" Jinx protested as Blackfire started to walk off. "I'm treating my friend to lunch and that's what I'm gonna do!" Jinx stood her ground and place in line, shuffling forward a few feet as the line slugged on. Blackfire looked quizzically at Raven, who just shrugged and joined Jinx in line.

Black fire let out a sigh and shoved her hands into Jinx's skirt pocket. "Hey, w-what the hell!" Blackfire ignored her as she continued rummaging around. Raven looked on as if it were a normal occurrence. She had spent enough time with Blackfire, not expect strange but, to not be surprised. Raven frowned as Blackfire snuck her other arm around Jinx's waist to hold her still while curling her lips into a smirk as Jinx gasped.

"Aha" Blackfire's hand emerged with Jinx's wallet. "Now, what do you ladies want?" Raven let out a sigh and a smirk found its way onto her face. Jinx was still flustered about being violated in public. After Jinx calmed down they both told her what to get, one more grudgingly than the other.

Blackfire walked up past everyone in line and called for someone named Amy, while the other two sat at a, newly, empty table. Jinx huffed as she spied Blackfire flirting with the service girl at the counter. "Damn, lech" she muttered.

Raven heard her, "hey, she's not that bad", she finished with a smile. "You're just mad that she got into your pants before the first date!" Raven chuckled at her own joke as Jinx stared wide-eyed at her. When she stopped she was met with an intense stare from Jinx. The pink head was leaning over the table scrutinizing Raven. "…Stop that."

"First of all" jinx began, "my Raven doesn't make sex jokes and secondly she doesn't laugh at her own jokes." They stared at each other again. Blackfire came up from the side carrying a tray of sushi. She was about to speak but Jinx cut her off, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY RAVEN" she shouted.

Raven balked, her disbelief apparent from her wide eyes, cocked brow and gaping mouth. Blackfire set the tray on the table struggling to hold in her laughter. Jinx's eyes glared at Blackfire, "What the hell's so damn funny?"

"pffbt, **you're** Raven?"

Jinx paled a bit. _Did I really say __**MY**__ Raven? S-shit!_ "I-I…uh…w-what I meant was…uh." Jinx coughed a bit into her fist, clearing her throat. "What I meant was my Raven as in my **friend**, Raven" she finished, blushing through the explanation.

Blackfire let out a 'pssh'. "So that means I can call her mine to then." She paused, posing as if mulling over the thought. "I like the sound of that" she said as she took the seat next to Raven, scooting in as close as possible to the, still gaping, girl. Jinx mirrored Raven, her thoughts repeating 'what have I done' as Blackfire leaned in to Raven's ear. She whispered, "I guess that make you my ReaRea, huh" breathing hot air and sending a shiver down Raven's spine and rage through Jinx.

Raven recovered and leaned into Blackfire, burying her eyes in the crook of Blackfire's neck. "I guess that means you're my Komi~" she breathed. Blackfire's brain visibly fried as she was left stammering and blushing fiercely. Jinx now mimicked Blackfire. Raven smirked as she pulled away and used her powers to scoot Blackfire away from her a few feet before picking up her chopsticks.

"Come, Robin, the mall of shopping will close soon!" Robin reluctantly followed Starfire through the mall. People instantly recognizing them from their Titan outfits and voiced themselves. As Starfire flew just above the floor, with Robin in tow, the male patrons all whistled and gave a 'way to go, Robin', and pats on the back and other words of congratulation. The females, however, cried out making their jealousy heard, some for Starfire and some for Robin. Others just sniffled as the pair past them.

"Star, relax" The Boy Wonder dug his feet into the ground and effectively snaged his girlfriend. "We've got plenty of time" he assured her with a smile, "besides all the fans congratulating me is getting kinda old."

Starfire relaxed and set herself on the ground next to Robin. "Forgive my excitement, I only wish to get friend Bumble Bee a satisfactory gift quickly before the party tomorrow." Starfire smiled up at Robin before continuing, "She is Cyborgs 'efta' and I wish to present her with a gift that symbolizes my happiness for them." Robin had hit a growth spurt after returning from Tokyo; he was now several inches taller than Starfire, forcing Starfire to either float or tip-toe to kiss him.

"Star, they've only been together for a month!" Robin wrapped his arms around her waist, now leading her along, "you can still get them gifts after she arrives, tomorrow." She nodded and floated a bit so he wouldn't have to do too much steering. They stayed that way as the continued walking along to the department store next to the food court.

"WHY ARE WE IN HERE" groaned Blackfire as she dragged her feet behind Jinx and Raven. They were wandering in the department store closest to the food court, which had its own café inside.

'Because this place has everything, so it shouldn't take very long to find a good gift" Jinx answered in an even tone, not really paying any mind to Blackfire. The store really did have a bit of everything; the store was large enough to have a section on every level of the newish mall. The mall had only finished construction one month prior and was already frequented by most of the city. Raven let reminisced about the day that she and the original Titans had stumbled upon the mall before it was finished.

They had gotten nostalgic for a moment and were ambushed by a robot that melted out of a brick wall, that now held a no smoking sign. _Friggin' robots_ was all Raven could get out before sensing Starfire and Robin entering the department store, _damn it!_ Raved glanced over her shoulder at Blackfire, who was flirting with one of the employees. _ You have gotto be kidding me!_

The employee was giggling at a joke that Blackfire finished before Raven strode over to them. "Sorry, she's taken" was all Raven said as she grabbed Backfire by the bend in her elbow and dragged her off behind a lingerie mannequin.

"Hey, what was that for? She was a sure thing!" Blackfire complained. Raven was about to explain the situation before a look of realization came over Blackfire. "W-wait, did you tell her that I was tak-"

Raven cut in her off, "Not the point, your sister's here with her boyfriend." Blackfire stared at her with a slight blush, not hearing her at all. Waving a hand in front of her face she tried again, using her telepathy for aid. "YOUR SISTER IS HERE WITH HER BOYFIREND WHO PRETTY MUCH HATES YOUR GUTS AND IS THE LEADER OF THE TEEN TITANS, YOU KNOW THE GUYS WHO REPEATEDLY KICK YOUR BUTT!" Raven shouted inside Blackfire's head.

"Ouch, damn you don't have to yell" said Blackfire rubbing her temples after the initial shock had faded, still with a blush. "And I knew they were here, by the way" Blackfire informed her as she started to sift through a rack of lace bras. "It's not that hard to sense that bubble of energy you know, and Birdboy thinks so much that you can pretty much see the impulses firing off around him. Do you think this color works for me?" She asked as she held up the undergarment in front of her bust, waiting for Raven's opinion. Raven just stared with her brow cocked. "Guess not, huh" Blackfire putting back the bra and began sifting through the rack below that one.

"What do you mean you already sensed them?

"Hmm?" Blackfire was pulling out lace bras in every color, "oh, that. Remember when I first showed up I told you that I was on Altara Prime?" She didn't wait for a response and started picking up panties from the rack next over. "Well, when I said that I got way into meditation I meant that I was inducted as a member of the Altaran Seers." This had gotten Raven attention; she knew that the Altaran Seers where some of the most powerful psychics in the universe. "Well, I didn't get past initiate because of some bounty hunters, so I never got to take my first test. But I did learn aura sensing and a few other tricks while I was there. How about these panties with this bra?"

"So you want me to believe that you, Starfire's sister, learned was elected to initiate of the Altaran Seers?" Raven ignoring Blackfire's question.

_I don't want you to believe anything ReaRaea_ came Blackfire's voice in her head, clear as day. Raven took a step back in astonishment. Blackfire smirked at her reaction. _I normally practice telepath etiquette, but seeing as how you shouted in my brain I thought turnabout was fair play._ "Do you think I should get a garter belt and stockings to go with these?" Blackfire held up a pair of light purple lace panties and bra over their respective parts.

Raven was still slightly confused, but made a mental note to question her further about her training, let out a small sigh. "Why do you keep asking me about potential underwear?"

'Well, you said I was taken so I need your opinion on my underwear." Blackfire began digging through a pile stockings in the bin a few meters from the panty display. Raven blushed and followed her.

"I only said that to warn you."

"And now I'm warned." Blackfire handed her the panties, bra and stockings so she could get a better look at the garter belts. "You said I was in a relationship in front of a girl I was flirting with" Raven listened for her logic, "so it would look really bad if I were to keep hitting on girls after my 'girlfriend' had dragged me off to the lingerie section." Blackfire had kept a neutral face while explaining. "So, as is an unspoken rule, she's already told her co-workers and there probably watching me to see if I do it again."

"Why?"

"Because if I do start flirting with someone, who's not you, I would look like a jerk. Once is me just talking to someone. Twice is me bored. After that I look like a player and that never looks good." Raven looked around and sure enough there were female employees giving the pair sideways glances as the passed by, or rearranged stock.

"Why the hell is this so complicated?

"Because people get hurt when the get involved with players." Blackfire stared at Raven while holding a garter belt to her, checking if it would fit comfortably. "Wouldn't you want to protect your friends from getting hurt?" Blackfire put the item in Raven's hands and put an arm around her waist as she led her to the swimsuit section. Raven looked up at her from the corner of her eye.

Blackfire wore a small smile as they made their way to the back of the section. Blackfire let go of Raven and picked up a few two-piece suits and held them to Raven's body one at a time, her face scrunching up a bit as she made silent decisions. Raven continued frowned as Blackfire picked up a few more and repeated the process, blushing more and more with every swimsuit.

"If you sensed them, then why haven't you made any attempt of hiding" Raven hissed as she swatted away a skimpy piece that consisted of a very thin V as the whole suit. Blackfire laughed a bit at Raven's predicament.

"Because the last place they would think to see me is here on Earth, let alone a department store shopping for underwear and skimpy swimsuits with my 'girlfriend'." Blackfire sounded confident in her theory, but Raven remained unsure.

"That may be but…wait, you mean you were picking the slutty ones on purpose!" Raven near shouted at the revelation. Blackfire tried to hide her laughter behind her hand only to fail miserably. Raven blushed harder that she was right, so much so that a few swimsuits started to levitate around them.

After calming down Blackfire put her hands on either side of Raven's waist and pulled her close. "Why wouldn't I?" She brought her hand up to Raven's cheek, brushing away a stray hair. "I'm with my girlfriend after all." Raven's breath hitched when Blackfire leaned in, her lips ghosting over the corner of Raven's. "Relax and clear your mind" she silently ordered Raven. A few seconds passed and Blackfire pulled away, getting a good look at a flustered Raven trying her hardest to keep her powers in check.

Blackfire moved her grasp to Raven's shoulders and quickly turned her around. Robin and Starfire were already walking away, talking about something or other. _Okay, I'll admit it. You're good. _

_I try_ came Blackfire's reply as she pulled Raven in close again and rested her shin on Raven's shoulder, her hands clasped in around Raven's hips. "Come on, we should probably find Jinx before she realizes that we ditched her."

"Crap", Raven groaned, "I forgot all about her, damn it Komi."

"I have that effect on people" she stated proudly, awkwardly leading Raven to the jewelry section, thinking it likely that Jinx would be there. Raven laughed a bit at their movements. Behind them pink hair hurried off to the restroom.

~One Month Later~

"Hurry up, Blackbird!" Jinx shouted behind her as she and Zatanna followed just behind Gizmo.

"JINX, YOU SNOT-BRAINED TRAITOR, STOP CHASING ME!" Gizmo had broken into the cryogenics lab and had stolen a copy of their entire database. He was using his backpack's mechanical spider limbs to navigate the alleyways they had followed him into.

"Snot-brained?" Zatanna gave a questioning look to Jinx as she flipped over a dumpster.

"Yeah, I never got that crap either" answered Jinx as Gizmo activated a pair of blaster guns from his pack, firing wildly behind him. "He may be a genius, but he was never all that good at thinking up curse words, she continued bouncing off and on the walls around her.

"Rass-a-frassin-no-good-springy-" Gizmo began mumbling insults as Jinx and Zatanna gained on him. Raven was bringing up the rear, barely keeping up with her friends.

_Wait, so his name's Gizmo and he uses gizmos to fight you guys?_ Blackfire's voice was giggling around in Raven's head.

_I know_ Raven answered _he's not very original._ After Bumble Bee's welcoming party Raven began practicing her telepathy with Blackfire. Raven had originally been able to see and detect people only, until her training with Dr. Fate, afterwards she was able to use short range telepathy that only ranged about 15 meters. After her sessions with Blackfire she could now hold a conversation with Blackfire while she was at work at the other end of the city.

_Oh and you should hear his insults_ Raven began again, _it's like a five year old throwing a tantrum._ Both girls laughed mentally at Gizmo's apparent sheltered youth. _Sorry, Komi, but I kinda have to get back to work here._

_Like I'm one to talk! Steve just asked me why I just stood at counter giggling to myself for 15 minutes!_ Raven laughed at Blackfire's expense. _Yeah, don't laugh at me because I can't multi-task when I'm talking to a girl._

_Get back to work, Komi._ Raven chided, _I'll head over there after I'm done with Dexter here._

_Oh stars, he's short too?_

_Good bye, Komi!_

_Fine, fine. See ya later._

Cutting the link with Blackfire, Raven sped up to catch up with her teammates. Gizmo was had just turned a corner and Jinx was sitting in a small crater rubbing her head. "Where's Rabbit?" Raven asked as she flew down to help jinx to her feet. An explosion came from the corner Gizmo had went down and Zatanna crashed into the pair, landing in a pile.

"How come, nobody told me he had heat-seeking missiles?" Zatanna grunted as she picked herself off the ground. Jinx doing the same before bending down to help Raven.

"The nerd's name is Gizmo!" Jinx pointed out, "it's kinda implied that he has missiles!"

"HOW does Gizmo imply MISSILES?"

Raven shot her hand out in Gizmo's direction and a shadow claw reached out chasing the short genius.

"How do you NOT think missiles when you hear the word GIZMO?" Jinx shouted, throwing her arms up in disbelief. Gizmo was approaching the trio held in Raven's magick, mumbling a string of his own curses. Raven smiling to herself as her friends argued about the implications of the small villain's name.

Raven turned to face her friends "Hey, I'm going down to the café you guys wanna join me?" She looked up expectantly at Zatanna and Jinx. Jinx had indeed grown a bit more in the past month. She even had to get a new costume because her old one tore during their last mission when she bent down to look at a clue, giving her friends a full view of the her pink lace panties digging into her backside.

Her new costume was similar to her old one in its witch-like style. It was separated into two sections instead of being a single piece. The top stopped just under her ribs and followed her them around the back. Her sleeves went down a few centimeters passed her fingers and spread out more. She still kept the piece around her shoulders and had adorned the center with a focusing gem similar to Raven's. The bottom was now a double layered skirt with the upper section spread out a bit more than the lower parts. Her boots remained the same, save for a Cheshire cat design on the fronts.

"Sure, I could go for some tea" Zatanna agreed a bit too quickly for Jinx's liking.

Raven caught this also and let a smirk onto her face. "You're right, Rabbit, Randy does make a nice ginseng tea" Raven raised a finger to her lips taking on the look of being deep in thought. Both Zatanna and Jinx blushed a bit before Raven shrugged, "Maybe I should ask him over to teach how to make it like he does?"

Zatanna started stuttering her protests while Jinx looked down at Gizmo. _Is he smiling? What the hell does he have to smile abou-_ The building behind Raven came crashing down as the wall behind her exploded. A deep roar could be heard over the collapsing building.

"Got ya, little buddy!" Mammoth had bulldozed Raven and knocked Zatanna and Jinx in to the buildings behind them. He snatched up Gizmo in his arms and kept running, smashing his way into the final building opposite of where he emerged. "Shimmer get me some cover!" he shouted behind him as he disappeared into the building. His sister, shimmer was perched on the rooftop of the building that Jinx had crashed into.

Jinx immediately looked up after hearing Mammoth give the order. Shimmer looked down onto Jinx and gave her a wink before reaching her hands down to the sides of the building, turning the stone into water and onto the teens' heads. Mammoth's appearance had turned the walls of the buildings into four spate damns, creating a pool when the water hit the titans' heads.

A few moments of being tossed and slammed by the torrent created by Shimmer Jinx emerged gasping for air, followed by Zatanna. "M-Mammoth…is so…not smart….enough…to…plan this!" Jinx shouted in between coughing fits. Zatanna agreeing as her lungs cleared of water. Jinx looked around after noticing Raven hadn't surfaced. "H-Hey, Rabbit, can Blackbird swim?"

Blackfire was laying her head on the counter, her arms splayed out on either side of her head. Her bum was held high in the air with her legs were locked under her hips. She blew a bit of hair out of her face as she held the position, her boredom evident. "You know if you lock your legs, like that, for a while you'll pass out" Randy informed her as he stepped out from the back room.

"At least it's be interesting" Blackfire sighed before putting herself in reverse. The wobble backwards with her chest still pressed to the countertop and let herself slump down, her legs still locked straight. She was bent almost straight, her arms flopping around her head and her fingers dragging across the floor before she pulled herself to slouch. Randy laughing the whole time.

"Why so bored, Commander? No targets today? No weapons of mass destruction to find? No assets to handle? No campaigns to run?" Blackfire leaned back, holding on to the counter's edge to keep balance, cocking an eyebrow to show her confusion. "T 'n A" Randy deadpanned. Her brow remained cocked. Randy gave an exasperated sigh before shouting, "TITS AND ASS" as the door opened revealing Raven, Zatanna and Jinx.

Randy clamped his mouth shut just as everyone froze, his blush dipping past his color; Zatanna was just as red. Jinx and Raven had eyes the size of dinner plates while Blackfire looked like she was thinking, one hand letting go of the counter to scratch the top of her head. "Oooh, 'T 'n A'" she let out slowly, "now it makes sense. Thanks, Randy" Blackfire finished cheerily. Randy muffled out something along the lines of "no problem."

"So" Blackfire turned to face the girls, "the usuals?"

"Blackbird drowned today" Jinx stated as she took a seat at the closest table. Blackfire looked at her with a smirk and Raven shrugged it off. "I resuscitated her" Jinx finished with a triumphant grin, a red face Raven, and a glowering Blackfire.

~One Month Later~

"Crap crap crap crap" muttered Speedy as he ran down from his room in Titans Tower. Speedy had chosen a room in the upper levels of the Tower so he wouldn't have to walk very far to shoot his clay birds. This was the reason he was late to most every meeting. He could feel Robin's smirk as he entered the common area of the Tower.

"Hey, Speedy, looks like you're not so speedy after all" called Beastboy from the front, all the original members were required to stand in front. They were the coordinators for the different sections and districts of Jump City. Surprisingly enough, it was Beastboy who had come up with the idea after noticing Robin and Cyborg argue about who to send for what mission. All the new members were assigned a district leader and depending on where the situation was, that leader would have full jurisdiction on whom to send and what plan of attack they recommend to the team.

The district leaders were as such: Robin had the Eastern Section which contained the Southern half of the Docking and Factory Districts. Cyborg was responsible for the Northern Section which contained the Northern half of the Docking District and the technological facilities that lay just outside of Upper Jump. Starfire had the Western which had many of sub-urban districts and the attractions like zoos and the Planetarium, she was also inchrge of off-world relations that concerned Jump specifically. Beastboy was in charge of, what was designated as, the Nature Districts. Beastboy looked after the forested areas and all happenings that went on in the bay and a few miles out to sea.

Beastboy, undoubtedly, had the largest area to look after, while Raven was charged with taking care of Upper, Middle, and Lower Jump. Robin had assigned Raven this section because she was the leader for some of the more powerful members, the ones dealing in magick and thought. The new members were sorted similarly: Robin was led the agile and discreet members, Cyborg managed the more tech proficient members, Starfire and Beastboy shared the meta-humans; with Starfire taking those who had a more extra-terrestrial background and Beastboy taking those who derived there powers from nature.

Robin looked around, doing a final headcount. "Alright, now that everyone's here we can get started." Speedy pouted as some laughs were had at his expense. "As you've all have noticed there has been a rise in crime since The Joker has showed up." The giant-screen TV displayed a layout of the Sections and red dots speckled the map. "This map shows the number and area of the crimes" Robin continued turning his back to the crowd and facing the screen. Most crime is spread evenly throughout including the Nature Districts. We've seen a rise in villains popping up in these areas while the old villains seem to be moving in between districts, dispersing themselves and giving each other enough room to operate without interfering with each other.

The screen zoomed in on Cyborg's section and Cyborg stepped up to speak. This continued for all following districts with each leader presenting their plan of action on how to handle certain villains and setting ground rules for collateral damage. At the end of the meeting Robin thanked everyone for their time and sent those scheduled for patrol on their way. When the common area cleared out Beastboy let out a breath. "MA-AN, that was boring! When did this job get boring?" the other leaders let out a collective sigh as Beastboy continued complaining.

Robin checked his watch as Cyborg and Starfire discussed am alien race that transfers all consciousness to a robotic form when the reach puberty. Robin started walking off, but was stopped by Starfire. "Efta Robin, do you wish to go to the pier this night and celebrate the fourth of July with Cyborg, Bumble Bee and I?

"Sorry, babe" Robin began, Raven just within earshot. "But I have some work I have to finish tonight." Starfire visibly deflated, " but I'll try to get there before the fireworks go off." He took her hand in his, the smile returning to her face. "I promise." Starfire nodded and gave Robin a quick peck on the check before flying off to her room to get changed, and Cyborg off to collect Bumble Bee. Robin turned to leave and saw Beastboy asking her to go with him to celebrate that night. _1…2…3 aaaaannnd_

"No"

_Sorry Beastboy but you gotta learn to take a hint _Robin smiled to himself as he walked out the tower. As he got to the garage Raven stepped out of the shadows, dressed in civilian clothes. "Wow, you change quick!"

"I guess" Raven shrugged, her gaze never leaving Robin. "Where are you headed?"

"I have some errands to run in my district, it shouldn't take long. Maybe we could all meet up at the pier afterwards" Robin spoke as he put on his helmet, getting situated. "Sound good?"

Raven gave him another long stare before ignoring his question. "Don't let your work get the better of you, Robin" she stated as she turned to face a wall. Robin now aware that she had been scrutinizing him. "We know what happens when you get carried away."

"Where's this coming from?"

Raven waited a bit before letting out a breath and looked over her shoulder lazily. "You've been canceling on Starfire and us more and more. Ever since The Joker showed you've been disappearing without telling anyone." Robin sat on the seat of his bike, silent as he waited for Raven to finish. "Last time you got like this you almost destroyed this team. You've got Starfire worried and Cyborg is starting to question your absences to." She turned to fully face him. "Robin, don't hide things from your friends."

Robin stared at the handle bar to his motorcycle, taking in Raven's words before meeting her gaze. "Raven, I can assure you that this will not be like last time. I'm not going undercover and I'm keeping everything within the law. All I can tell you know is that I've been gathering as much data as I can. We're going to need all the facts before we even think about going after The Joker again." Raven nodded and gave him a small smile before facing and walking to the wall, disappearing into the shadows. With that Robin took off from the Tower.

~One Month Later~

_Mission Log 12003. Subject: The Joker. It's been three whole months since The Joker first made himself known. I haven't been able to find much on his where about, his plans, his movements or anything. Raven checked up on me again. She's worried that I'll lose myself and my morals like last time. She's worried that I'll go to any lengths to find and catch The Joker. She has an idea, probably more than the other, about what The Joker did just over a year ago. She doesn't pretend to understand or sympathize with my past. When she brings it up she always ends with 'regardless of what happened, you have to think about your team first.' Sometimes I think that she would make a better leader than me. Sometimes I think of just letting take over. She's matured so much since her training with Dr. Fate._

_The dimension she was in ran at a different speed than ours, hers moved faster. When she came back, she told us that she was gone for equivalent three years. Three years had passed for her, but it looked like she hadn't aged a day. Her mind had grown, she'd probably seen things that would make anyone go mad. Alone with your thoughts for three years. She had become more mature than even Cyborg, well when it comes to anything outside of social situations. She wasn't that great in crowds before, but now simple things like a wink or a lingering touch would fly right over her head. I asked Zatanna about it; she told me that while Raven's powers were based on her emotions, her training consisted of controlling her powers and disassociating them from her emotions. So she could laugh. So She could get angry. Get embarrassed. Be normal. According to Zatanna and Starfire she still has some problems when she gets flustered. Small problems like a few pebbles or a magazine would levitate until she calmed down._

_That's how she became the strongest of us, I guess. Hmm. At any rate I've noticed that, although crime has spread evenly though out districts, her district has had the least amount of bank theft. Her district is the only one that has a bit of all the other districts in it. And while her members might be stronger than most of ours, she lacks the numbers. Beastboy and Star have the largest number of Titans because their areas are significantly bigger than ours; while Raven's has the least. And the villains. It's like their coordinating with each other. They stay out each others' way and there never any adjacent crimes happening at the same time. It's not like before where we'd chase down one villain, they'd round a corner and slam into another one. I can't place it, but I think it has to with The Joker. I've visited Neil countless times and I keep getting the same info. He's the only person in Jump to have had extended time with Th Joker and actually observe him. Hearing this out loud, I can't help but note the similarity to Dr. Strange. But it's necessary. If we want to stand any chance against The Joker we have to be prepared. All I could get from the video and few seconds of him on screen was that he was bored._

_Batman told me, a long time ago, that sometimes The Joker would get bored and leave Gotham for a while. Alfred joked that he was getting away from work so the creative juices would flow better. I remember the first time, for me anyways, that The Joker left. He went to South Dakota and rounded up a bunch of meta-humans. The local hero there helped us out and we sent him straight to Arkham. _The sound of papers being shuffled and pen scratches fill a few moments of silence. The sound of a chair creaking is followed by footsteps. Liquid pouring into something can be heard faintly, static from the microphone making it hard to hear. More footsteps are heard and the creaking follows. _The last time The Joker left Gotham, he showed up in Moscow. He was hired by Al Ghul to act as a diversion while he and his daughter toppled the economy. _A sharp inhale is heard, followed by a slow exhale. _He got him alone. Jason wasn't very patient, something we had in common. He died that night. There wasn't anything he could have done to save him._ _I will find him._ Static follows before the recording cuts.

Raven was not in her apartment, she was not reading a book on her sofa, and she was not listening to her friend complain at her TV. No. She was in Blackfire's apartment, reading a book on Blackfire's sofa, and listening Blackfire complain to her own TV. Jinx was thought all this while sitting to left of Raven, Blackfire on her right. Zatanna and Randy were sitting at Blackfire's kitchen table. Jinx had arms crossed like her legs, a bored frown on her face. Zatanna glanced over the three on the sofa, smiling at how odd they looked next to each other. Randy followed her gaze. "GOD DAMN IT! Why isn't there anything good on?" Blackfire huffed before settle on a re-run of an anime that should have ended years ago. She relaxed in her seat and leaned on Raven's shoulder, her arms resting behind her head.

Jinx noticed Blackfire's position and scooted closer to Raven, adjusting herself so that her back rested against Raven's side and her legs hung off the arm rest. Blackfire, in retaliation, slid down a bit and rested her in the bend of Raven's elbow, peeking over at the book she was reading. In turn, Jinx readjusted herself so that she was sitting normally and draped her arms around Raven's shoulders and pressed her check to Raven's, reading along with her. Raven had kept a straight face through it all. She was focused on her and the two onlookers gave kudos to her ability to tune out nuisances. Jinx frowned at the smirk she got from Blackfire, who then slid her head under Raven's arm and worked her way up to her chest and rested there, her arms around Raven's waist. This continued for several more positions while Randy and Zatanna began writing down scores based on difficulty, lewdness, originality, composure, and how much it visibly irked Raven. Raven finally snapped when she found herself on Blackfire's lap with her hands roaming under her shirt and Jinx between her legs blushing madly as her face pressed into Raven's abdomen with her arms wrapped around her waist.

Raven slammed her book shut, visibly shaking with rage. Both contestants let out a small woops as they were engulfed in shadow before being thrown across the room. Raven, red faced, stormed her way to Blackfire's bedroom down the hall. Blackfire had landed upside-down, her shoulders on the floor and her back against the wall. Jinx lay next to her, having hit the wall with her rear-end she landed bent with her face in the carpet. She could practically feel the smirk growing on Blackfire's face as Raven shut the door to Blackfire room. Zatanna and Randy quickly compared scores before agreeing. "Ahem" Zatanna cleared her throat and getting both girls' attention. " The winner in three of five categories is Jinx, for difficulty, originality and lewdness. The Runner up is Blackfire, who took the composure and annoyance categories. Blackfire and Jinx stared at them confused while Randy pulled out his phone and played the Jump City Anthem. "Congratulations contestants, you both performed admirably but the winner is the Jump City native, JINX!" Zatanna stood while shooting confetti from her wand.

Raven collapsed onto Backfire's bed. _What the hell is wrong with those two?_ She thought to herself. She rolled over so that she was laying on her back, staring at the ceiling. She had been in Blackfire's room before, enough times that she knew where everything was. She knew that Blackfire had put posters of female celebrities on her ceiling, her reason was that it was so she would always wake up under the stars. She surveyed the room, remembering the reasons why Blackfire had put certain things where they were. Her laptop was sat on the floor because it wasn't called a desktop, Raven smiled at the memory of Blackfire looking completely serious when she explained her room.

She went through a few more oddities: an Easter basket filled with legos, a hubcap for truck, and a bottle of water filled with apple juice that she kept close to her heating lamp so that it would always be warm. Her eyes eventually landed on a set of lingerie. She remembered that day, where she and Blackfire pretended to be girlfriends because of a slip up on her part. She remembered finding Jinx leaving the restroom with her mascara running down her face. She remembered Jinx telling how she wished her and Blackfire luck in their relationship. She remembered wondering what she was talking about, only for Jinx to cry into her arm telling her that she saw them kissing in the swimsuit department. She remembered explaining to Jinx that they hadn't kissed but were hiding from Robin and Starfire, using her crush on Starfire as a reason. She remembered thinking about what Blackfire had told only minutes before. She remembered jeans flying because Jinx had pulled her into a surprise kiss.

"And the that jackass, Komi appeared out of nowhere shouting 'Challenge accepted' and kissing me too." Raven sighed at the memory of her two closest friends spending the next few weeks dragging her from place to place, trying to court her. "Those two are such idiots." Raven closed her eyes, thinking about how her closest friend used to be Starfire. How she used to near beg her to accompany her to 'the mall of shopping.' How she regretted never telling her how she felt about the Tameranian princess. Raven let out another sigh, "damn it", before establishing a mental link with Blackfire. _Hey, Komi. I think we need to talk._ Raven waited for a reply, moments passed making Raven feel worse and worse.

_Let me get rid of these guys first, and I'll be right there, okay?_ Blackfire's voice came in a gentle tone. It reminded her of Starfire. Before she could squash the thought she heard Jinx protesting her being evicted.

'Like hell I'm leaving her with a pervert like you!" Raven smiled at that. Eventually the door closed, Blackfire apparently finding a way to make Jinx concede. Raven heard Blackfire's steps approaching the door.

Blackfire knocked softly, Hey, ReaRea, you okay?" Blackfire creaked open the door and stuck her head in, looking concerned. "Sorry, if we took it too far." Raven waved it off and Blackfire joined her in the bed. "What's on your mind, Songbird?" Songbird was the only pet name she didn't use in public, she had come up with it when Raven had first visited.

"Komi" Raven let a few moments pass as she put together her thoughts. "Why do you do what you do to me?" This was not what Blackfire had expected.

"Why the sudden curiosity?"

"Well, I know why Jinx does it." Raven gave a lazily single shoulder shrug. "I guess I just want to know."

Blackfire thought a moment, eyes never leaving the ceiling. "You've been think about Starfire haven't you?" Raven stiffened, Blackfire noticed. "You're over thinking this, Songbird", Blackfire turned to face Raven who did the same. "I'm just doing it because I think it's funny how Jinx gets so overprotective of you. If you want me to stop, I'll stop." Blackfire rolled onto her back and face the ceiling again.

Raven thought about, she really didn't mind either of the holding her the way they did. She just didn't like it becoming a competition. "You don't have to stop if you don't want to."

"But you want me to?"

"…no." Blackfire smiled and snaked and arm around Raven, pulling her in close. The rest of their night went by with Raven in Blackfire's arms, her thoughts drifting from Blackfire to Jinx, and to Starfire.

'So boys" The Joker cooed, "how'd it go?" Gizmo and Mammoth stood, both holding a microchip.

"Ding Dong Daddy was more than happy to hand this over now that he can roll in and out of Jump without having to worry about the Titans" Mammoth grinning as he handed the chip to Harley, who came up behind them. Gizmo following suit.

'Good works, boys. You've earned yourselves a break. Have a night on the town and unwind, just stay out of jail. I'll you two next week, got it?"

"Yes, Uncle Jay" they said din unison before departing.

"Hey, Mistah Jay" Harley questioned, "why's you have Triple D bring these in from Metropolis and Central?

"All in good time , Harley."

~Present~

Robin made his way past the security desk, the guards standing and giving a salute before asking for the daily keyword that assured the guards that it was the real Robin. "Chrysalis."

"Thank you, sir." The guard marked of the scheduled time that Robin would be visiting in the log book and escorted him through the asylum. They headed to the east wing of the building, the wing where the inmates were allowed visitors and met with one of several psychologists. Sitting in the reserved room, the room for the heroes to personally visit the villains, was Mad Mod.

"'Ello, ducky" greeted Mad Mod, looking up from the chess board on the table. He had been playing himself waiting for Robin. "Don't worry you ain't late, they jus' put me in'ere early." Mad Mod kept playing as Robin took the seat opposite him. "So, wot are you up to?"

"Still chasing The Joker" Robin replied somberly, "you?"

"Oh, you know" began the old cockney, "bit o' dis, bit o' dat'." A thick silence past them for a few moments before Mod spoke up again. "You goin' tah ask me again, ain't ya?" For the past few months Robin had been making visit to the Mad Mod, asking him questions about The Joker and his mannerism on the day that he moved to Jump. He asked about how he walked, how he laughed, jokes that he made, how his henchman and Harley acted around him, and the old man complied without a word of protest.

"Mod, you're the only who actually paid attention to him while you guys were held hostage" Robin looked Mad Mod in the eye – or as far as he could tell with the mask on. "And you're the only who looks like their making an attempt at becoming a normal person." Mad Mod gave a sigh and slouched in his seat.

"Look, Robin, I tol' ya ev'rfing I know and ev'ryfing I could. Da man's as crazy as dey get. 'E nevuh sat still long 'nuf to get bored and talk 'bout 'is plans or gloat 'bout 'ow 'e captured us or nuffin." Mad Mod looked up at the ceiling light, remembering waking up tied up and gagged next to Mumbo Jumbo and Johnny Rancid. "An' when 'e did set down 'e jus' looked like 'e was finking 'bout somefing." After a few more moments of silence Mad Mod let out another sigh. "I've told ya ev'ry fing I can, mate."

Robin lowered his head, his arms holding him up on the table. "Alright, thanks again, Neil."

"Don't kids dese days know any form o' ma'ers, it's Mistah Richards!" Snapped, ending with a smirk. Robin returned his smirk and started to leave. He made it to the door before Mad Mod called out. "Oi, Robin, thought I'd let you know. I got a visitah last night asking de same questions you's been asking. 'E 'ad a costume dat looked like yours only not as colourful." Robin had been frozen in front of the door, his hand floarting above the intercom button used to let the guards he was ready to leave. " 'E 'ad a red x on 'is mask."

Author Note Things:

Kinda really wish that FF had a S.O.L. genre choice…

Thanks to the anons who left reviews and yeah, spelling and tense errors tend to happen a lot more frequently as you pass 1,500 on the word count.

I also want to say thanks to all the people who favorite me and/or the story after only one chapter, I feel all special.

Another also, I might start doing up a story that fills in what happened between Trouble in Tokyo and the beginning of A Full Deck. It would be more of a series of one-shots from various characters and their POVs during that time.


	3. Chapter 3

"'E 'ad a red x on 'is mask."

Robin froze. Processing the information he stood with his hand over the button next to the door. Neil watched him, half-lidded eyes scrutinizing every muscle that twitched. An eternity had passed before Robin finally pressed the button letting the guards know that his business was finished. As the locks within the door disengaged, Robin muttered his thanks before greeting the guard on the other side. Neil watched him leave, shaking his head as he returned to his game.

"Anytime, ya snot" picking up his King piece. The door closed and he was in silence again, waiting for another guard to come return him to the recreation room. He twirled the piece of black wood in his hand, a frown on his face. "If der is one fing I've learned, is sfat you can neva really tell if you's a king or a pawn." A guard opened the door and brought Neil to a table with a deck of cards in the center. Neil took a seat and open and shuffle the pack of cards. Mumbo Jumbo, Brother Blood and an unfamiliar face joined his table while he dealt them. The new guy had a plain face and plain skin. He wasn't pale, but he wasn't tan either. His hair was in a blonde mop and his chin had stubble. They sat in silence while he finished setting up the game. Texas Hold 'em Poker.

Mumbo broke the quiet. "So" he began, throwing a bag of chip in the center, "you tell the brat about your visitor. The rest put in various trinkets and snacks in the center, raising or matching bets. Neil put three cards, in a line, in the center fulfilling his role as dealer. He stayed quiet.

Brother Blood spoke next when it was his turn to make a move. "You know, Neil. They say that Red X is very dangerous." He threw in a few cookies to match the new guy's bet of a snack cake.

"I know, he crashed meh car into the fat ass's when Ding Dong Daddy had that race a while back."

"Then you have an idea of what he's capable of then" Brother Blood lectured. "He's dangerous not because he can do what he did. Not because he can get in and out of here without leaving a trace," he tossed in a small block of wood, the other giving him questioning looks. "What, I like to whittle. Besides it's all I've got!" Blood huffed as Neil chuckled at him. "That's not the point, the point is that he's dangerous because he always pays back a debt." Mumbo looked at him.

"Are you saying he owes someone?"

Blood focused on the game, very tempted to fold because of his depressing hand, but answered. "Not every debt, begins with one getting something beneficial, Mumbo.

"I know the rumors, Blood." Neil stated, pulling the river card. "And, frankly, I really don't give a damn."

-0-0-

Robin sat at his computer; it was directly linked to the Titan database. On the screen was the updated display for all known Jump villains. The display was a card that displayed: a photo of the villain, his, or her name, alias, known crimes, short biographies, etc. All cards had attachments for crime reports, starting from their most recent. Robin cycled through them, stopping on Red X. His biography was fairly short, a few sentences talking about how he had acquired the suit and nothing more. His name was blank, as was age, sex and a few other physical descriptions. Robin began going through his list of crimes, his last being his participation in Ding Dong Daddy's race.

Robin stopped scrolling. His eyes darted to the date of the crime. It just over a full year since he had committed a crime in Jump City. _That can't be right? _Robin thought to himself. He quickly pulled up all other villains who had participated in the race, leaving out Mad Mod. Control Freak, Mumbo Jumbo, The Puppet King, Johnny Rancid, Kitten, Adonis and Dr. Light… They all had been active since that day. He then removed all villains who were now in Jump City's Arkham branch. Ding Dong Daddy, Gizmo… were still running around.

Ding Dong Daddy hadn't been seen in Jump since The Joker arrived in Jump. _What the hell? He should be making a killing, why isn't he doing anything?_ Robin squinted his eyes in concentration before widening them in realization. _Maybe not why, but where._ He began a facial recognition search with all video and photo in major cities. "This may take a while" Robin said, leaving his chair. He left his room to find Starfire, Cyborg and Bumble Bee waiting outside his door holding up a basketball.

-0-0-

Blackfire was sitting upside down on her couch, her head lolling about as she fiddle the remote that lay on her flat stomach. She stayed like that until she heard her belly beg for food. Rolling of the couch she made her way to her refrigerator, already guessing that there was nothing with in. She sighed as she closed the door when she found herself correct. She found herself remembering why she was alone that day. Raven had called informing Blackfire that she would be spending the day with Jinx on a date. _W-WHAT?_ She heard her voice ask when she had heard the news, _SHE ACTUALLY ASKED YOU OUT!_ She let out a sigh as she remembered Raven telling her to stay out of trouble while she was gone. They had visited each other every day since Raven had first visited her three month ago.

Blackfire still stood in her kitchen, staring at her sink, before shouting " ARRRGH, I NEED A DISTRACTION!" Convinced that one wouldn't materialize in her home. She stormed her way to her room and began to undress, growling until she left her home. She walked down the streets, dressed in jeans, a band-t and simple sneakers, looking for something to do. She passed a bookstore, the mall, a few restaurants, the arcade, and an indoor paintball arena before heading to the park. "Why the hell is everything so damn boring" she huffed as she plopped down on a bench.

She decided that people watching would have to be her activity for the day. She sat for an hour, not really looking at anything, thinking about how bored she was without Raven. _I don't need her to have a good time_, she tried to convince herself.

"Bored?"

Blackfire practically flew of the bench at the stranger's voice. "Sorry, you just looked so bored, or pissed I couldn't decide, sitting here by yourself." A woman with red hair and pale skin, wearing black jeans, and a short shirt under a black leather jacket was standing behind her. Blackfire gave her an indifferent shrug as confirmation. "If you want, I can make your day a little more exci-"

"You sound funny" Blackfire interrupts her. The woman is in a short shock before stifling a chuckle with her hand. "Australia, right?"

"So there is a brain in that mass of hair" the woman teases. Blackfire smiles a little. "So you wanna do something? You know, other than sit here frowning at nothing."

Blackfire quickly decides that she liked this mystery woman. "Sure, only if your name is as pretty as your face."

"Selinda" she answers, bowing and reaching out her hand. Blackfire takes it, "Selinda Flinders." Blackfire doesn't hide that she's impressed and expects the following question. "So is your name as hot as your body" Selinda asks with a cheeky smirk.

_Okay, not the question I was expecting._ "Komilla Anderson" she replies with a smirk of her own, "and it seems that you've done this before."

"It seems that you're not used to it."

"Well, I'm usually the one who's shamelessly talking up random women." Blackfire takes Selinda's arm in hers and leads her around the park, no real destination in mind. "So, Selinda, where the hell am I going?"

Selinda raises her free hand to her chin, looking like she's thinking, "How about a dirty movie to get the juices flowin'?"

"Perfect."

-0-0-

"H-Holy shit" Blackfire muttered as Selinda's arm warped around her. They were inside a movie theatre watching the first of a planned trilogy, '100 Shades of White', "how was this allowed in theatres?"

"I said dirty movie, didn't I" Selinda whispers, earning a few shushes from behind.

Blackfire hissed at her "I expected side boob, not full on porn!" Her face with a slight blush as she slowly sunk into her seat.

"I-I have to admit this is a bit much."

"H-Hold on" Blackfire began searching around her frantically.

"What's-"

Blackfire's eyes nearly popped from their sockets, her hand shooting out pointing a few rows ahead of them. "T-They're having sex" she hissed. Her head spinning around and mimicking her previous actions, "a-and so are they!" Blackfire then pointed out that half the audience was either pleasuring themselves, or their dates.

"Y-You have got to be shittin' me!" Selinda was now blushing, sinking in her seat along with Blackfire. "I guess that's why the ticket guys gave us that look, huh?" Blackfire nodded her head quickly as a moan erupted from the speakers. Selinda decided to lighten the awkwardness. "I-I guess t-that explains why the f-floors are s-so s-sticky, eh?" Blackfire put a hand to her mouth to quiet herself, finding the nervousness of the actual telling of the joke more humorous than the joke itself. Another exaggerated moan blasting over the speakers brought the awkwardness back to the pair, silencing them both for the next hour.

"I seriously think that **that** was the most awkward time I've had in a movie!" Blackfire exclaimed as she and Selinda exited the auditorium. "Now check my hair again!"

"I told you that there wasn't anything in there!"

"And I told you that the couple behind us were just as rough as the movie, now check!"

-0-0-

"So, question" Blackfire piped up while the two walked to their next destination. "Why are we walking?"

Selinda smirked a bit before answering, "because it looks like the only exercise you've seen in a month." She walked away chuckling and failed to notice Blackfire's falling face. She had grown up with Starfire, being compared to her and judged by the bar that she set. Starfire was always seen as the pretty sister; she couldn't understand why that was when, in her eyes, they were similar. Starfire was just one year younger than she was, and for most of her childhood she assumed it was because Starfire was newer than her, everyone preferred something newer than something that was old. It was when she reached adolescence that she under stood it had nothing to do with time, but with genes.

Blackfire was born defective, according to Tamaran and its people. Blackfire was born without the ability to fly – a normal trait for Tamaranians everywhere. When her father had learned of, what he saw as, Blackfire's deformity he hid the truth from both his people and Blackfire. He forbade flying within the palace, declaring it as disrespectful to the old gods and royal blood. Being Grand Ruler, no one argued. When Starfire was born, their father was relieved that at least one of his heirs was normal.

As the two grew Blackfire was always held with displeasure while where Starfire performed, she was held with high praise. The palace guard did notice, but did not question. Why should they, they existed to protect the family not to speak. However, those who frequented the palace could. Kal'Solin, an eccentric, was one who frequented the palace not for business but for pleasure. He enjoyed the architecture and the ambience of the palace and was seen as weak for it. He never participated in many of Tamaranian Traditional events, saying that it was displeasing for him. He was a thinker, a scientist and innovator. He never did anything the hard way because he always found a way to get it done with the least amount of physical effort.

He had been in the palace when Blackfire had first entered their world. He heard Blackfire cry her existence and her father howl in rage. He was considered very intelligent among the Tamaranians and was often sought for wisdom and advice, so when the king had decreed flying in the palace forbidden some sought him. He knew exactly why, understanding their ruler's pride and how Tamaranians usually deal with the unnatural.

He already walked everywhere he went, even though he could fly, and thought that it was a silly that his people would fly to the grocer down the street rather than take a few minutes longer to walk. He was for the new law and didn't see a problem with the change, so when asked about it he simply stated that the Grand Ruler got tired of everyone being lazy. This answer satisfied everyone who questioned, because it made sense to them. Being lazy was being weak, and on Tamaran the Grand Ruler there to make sure his people were never weak. He didn't see it as a respect of privacy, or respect for his ruler, he simply saw it as not his problem.

When Blackfire had learned that she was not normal, she grew angry. She threw fits and servants around the palace. Her strength was the only Tamaranian trait that was passed onto her – that, and her skin. She saw her sister for what she believed she was. Spoiled. She saw her and remembered everything that she was denied and what was shoved in her face. She remembered when Starfire began attending her classes that were to prepare her to be Grand Ruler, questioning why her younger sister was there when she was next in line. The tutors told her not to question the will of her father.

After she learned what she was she began her combat training, alongside Starfire, on Okaara. This was where she excelled and where she beat Starfire constantly, as well as in war prep and economic planning. Blackfire always performed well in every class, but was never praised, and always told that she should be doing better. Where she was always apologizing to her father for being less than satisfactory, Starfire was given a reward for scores and results below her own. Starfire was never encouraged to do better and tutored on her mistakes while Blackfire sat alone in her room reading and training.

One day, before Blackfire's 13th birthday, Blackfire was walking the halls by the Grand Ruler's War Room. She heard voices coming from inside and her curiosity got the best of her. She found an air vent and discreetly climbed inside and crawled until she could hear better. After a few turns, and dead bugs, she found herself behind her father's seat in the room. She heard several more voice behind her father's solemn whispers. All of his advisors and generals were with him. Her eyes filled with tears when she heard the rounds of agreement and insults that were said at her expense. She was not to be Grand Ruler when she came of age, it would be Starfire.

She stifled her rage and held onto it, using it as her motivation to prove to her father that he was making a mistake. During a training exercise, the following day, Blackfire thought back to what her father had said and lost control near killing her sparring partner. She was dismissed and reprimanded, both from the Okaaran Warlord and from herself. During her self-disciplining, Kal'Solin found her and offered her a way to be better than her sister. She had no idea that he had made the same offer to Starfire or had been in league with the Psions, a race known for experimentation and torture. When she left Tamaran she had a battle suit that allowed her to fly and could fire blasts of black and purple energy from her hands.

It was after she left that Starfire was sold into slavery to protect her planet. It was also after she left that her father died objecting to Starfire's forced slavery.

"Komi~" Selinda's voice bringing Blackfire out of her thoughts, "Komi, what's wrong?" Blackfire had been standing still for the past few minutes, mentally repeating that she was better than Starfire in her head. Selinda would have kept walking if she hadn't noticed a lack of innuendo and gloating. Still getting no response from her new friend she clapped the air just in front of Blackfire shouting, "KOMI!"

Blackfire jumped back a bit and shook her head, "W-Wha, huh?" She blinked a few times at the confused look on Selinda's face. "D-Don't do that!" Blackfire's face burned slightly as she wiped off imaginary dust from her shoulder. And Selinda shrugged off her own concern and continued on slowly, allowing Blackfire to catch up.

"You never gave me a real answer y'know."

Selinda looked at Blackfire from the corner of her eye and smiled. "I like to walk, and run. Never really saw a car as a necessity, not when I could run across town and have more fun." Selinda talked about the people and places she'd seen within the city during her escapades. She talked about seeing the Teen Titans chase down villains and villain hideouts that she'd found while feeling a tad more adventurous than usual.

-0-0-

"I don't wanna!"

"Yes you do~" Selinda pulled Blackfire in close from behind, whispering in her ear. "Trust me, you'll do fine." Blackfire could feel Selinda's hands slowly coming up from her the small of her back and coming to rest between her shoulder blades. "If you get hurt you can get me back later" Selinda reassuring Blackfire who trembled slightly, not from fear of getting hurt but of embarrassing herself. She hadn't done the activity they were about to do for some time and felt out of practice. "Now," Selinda tensed herself behind Blackfire, "GET OUT AND SKATE FOR YOUR LIFE!" Selinda pushed Blackfire as hard she could out onto the ice rink with Blackfire yelping in surprise.

Blackfire immediately relying on muscle memory, landed on her feet, and wibely -wobbly, skated off to center ice. "Damn it, Sel!" Blackfire called while trying her hardest to remain upright, Selinda laughing while skating out to meet her. "When I get my hands on you I'm so gonna-a-a-WOAH!" Selinda had moved just in time to catch the falling alien.

"So gonna what?" Selinda had caught Blackfire inches off the hard ice, holding her with her arm around Blackfire's waist and slowly sliding off to the side. Selinda brought her face close to Blackfire's, still in their dancer pose, smirking. "I'm waiting."

"S-Sel…"Blackfire trailed off as she wrapped her arms around Selinda's neck, bringing a blush to the Australian's face. "I," Blackfire smirked, "was gonna do this!" Blackfire positioned her off-foot below herself and pushed, spinning herself and Selinda and switching their positions. Blackfire could practically feel the blush spreading on Selinda. "I know, I'm kinda amazing" Blackfire gloated before putting them both back on their feet, keeping Selinda close and whispering, "Even better off my feet" and zooming of along the ice. Selinda stared after her with wide eyes and her blush still blazing. She would have stayed that way had it not been for Blackfire goading her, asking if she'd been frozen to the floor. Selinda smirked and gave chase for the next few hours, the two competing in races and other ice rink events that the booth operator would announce with mock enthusiasm.

"How the hell is anyone supposed to win at 'Red Light, Green Light' on skates?" Selinda was fuming as they exited the ice rink, Blackfire playing with the ribbon she'd won for the aforementioned event. "I mean no matter how hard you stop, it's still ICE!" Selinda throwing her arms up, "YOU STILL SLIDE!" She shot a glare at Blackfire, thinking she heard a 'sore loser' hidden in her cough. Selinda continued her list of complaints, and accusations of foul play, under her breath while Blackfire wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

It was already evening, the sun having just set and the air growing still without the heat of the sun. "C'mon, let's get you some ice cream so you can better accept my overall awesomeness" Blackfire proposed as she led her to a nearby street vendor. After ordering, Blackfire found a small wall that bordered the garden of the nearby building. They sat in comfortable silence eating their ice cream, watching people and cars go by.

Blackfire was about to break the silence when she heard Raven's voice calling her, she began looking around her. "What's up, Komi" Selinda asked, watching her friend swivel and twist in her seat.

"N-Nothing, just hearing things I guess."

_KOMI! _Raven's voice blasted Blackfire's mind so loudly that she fell back into the bushes yelping.

_WHAT?_ She had trouble concentrating coming up with an excuse while conversing with Raven. _Damn it, Songbird, you don't have to shout._ "Heh…uh..I saw a bug?" She tried when Selinda gave her a questioning look, smirking at her friend's state. Leafs and twigs where sticking out of her long black hair.

_Sorry, Jinx and I finished our date so I decided to come and visit. Where are you anyways?_

_I'm out, right now, I'll probably be another hour or so._ "Y-Yes a bug, it landed on my ice cream!" Blackfire was struggling not to confuse the conversations and had to pause every so often to sort herself out. This continued for a good while, Raven talking about her day and Selinda teasing her_ Listen, there's a spare key in a false section of the door molding, tap when you find it, tap three times and it'll open right up, I'll talk to you later. "S-So-, anything else you got planned for me to be totally kick your butt at?" effectively quieting both girls before things got out of hand._

Selinda did indeed have another spot planned for the night.

Blackfire had never been to the pier, she had only seen it on her last visit to Earth. She'd flown past the pier when she spotted Starfire on the Ferris Wheel. She'd heard of how her sister had escaped slavery and how she'd made friends on the blue planet, and had decided that she wanted to see how her sister was getting along. What she hadn't planned on was being followed. When she lowered herself behind the car holding Starfire a recon probe had swept up and snatched her out of her seat.

Blackfire decided to see if her sister had retained any of the training they'd received. She watched as Starfire had to be saved and was immediately pleased that, here on Earth, Koriand'r had to be saved. Blackfire knew that she could have destroyed the probe without help from anyone. Watching her sister get rescued cemented her beliefs that she was better than Starfire in every way. She found the Tower where Starfire had been staying and decided to surprise her sister.

How the Titans had received her had further stroked her ego, _Even her friends think I'm better than her, _she thought_. _She gave Starfire the Crystal she had stolen, a test to see if Starfire could hold her own against heavy odds. When the Centauri had revealed that Blackfire was a thief the Titans had turned on her, and so had her sister. After her defeat she promised revenge. On the trip to the Centauri Prison she planned. _Those impatient, good-for-nothing jackasses! I'll pay them back, just as soon as we get close enough to Tamaran._ When she had escaped and took over as Grand Ruler, she continued planning her revenge. She had planned to send Starfire off with the blob prince, as punishment for her betrayal, only to retrieve her a few months later when she had successfully replicated the Psion experiments performed on her and had made her people just as she and Starfire had become. She would have rescued her sister and would have made Tameranians even more thought that that would make her seen as a hero in the eyes of people and prove that her father was wrong in making Starfire the next heir.

Blackfire and Selinda spent the next few hours running from booth to booth, ride to ride and junk food vendor to junk food vender.

"Now where the hell did she go?" Blackfire was lost in the sea of people, _There's too many people here to try and pick out her aura…crap_. Blackfire wandered aimlessly for a few moments before Selinda reappeared with cotton candy and two hot dogs.

"You know it's hard to find you when you don't go to the Ferris Wheel like I asked you." Selinda shouting a bit over the noise of the crowd. Blackfire scratched at the back of her head, giving an embarrassed smile. "C'mon, I've got something to show you." Selinda handed Blackfire one of the hotdogs and led the way.

"At the Ferris Wheel?"

"Ya, at the Ferris Wheel!" Selinda groaned in mock annoyance before smirking. "Trust me, okay." Blackfire shrugged and followed obediently, whilst finishing her food.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

~Earlier that day~

_Hey, Komi you there?_

_h-huh, wha…oh_ Blackfire sent a yawn through their telepathic link, _Morning, Songbird, what can I do you for?_

_Did you really just yawn in your mind to prove a point?_

_I was sleeping, you woke me up, and I don't have work today. What do you want?_

_Just telling you that I won't be coming over today. Jinx asked me out on a da-_

_WHAT!?_ Blackfire mentally, and physically, shouted _s-she actually asked you out!_

_Yes, Komi, she asked me out. And like I said, I won't be coming over today because I'll be out with Jinx._ Blackfire didn't respond. _Komi? Are you okay?_ Nothing. _Did you hang up on me…can you hang up on me? _A few more seconds of silence and Raven grew impatient. _KOMI!_

_O-Oh, s-sorry. I was just in shock for a while, because, y'know. Jinx actually asked you out._ Raven could hear the disbelief in Blackfire's voice as it filled her head. She had gone out with Jinx before, but Blackfire joined them. So instead of an actual date, Raven was - almost literally – dragged from place to place as Jinx and Blackfire tried to get her alone.

_Yeah, it kind of surprised me to._ A silence fell between them, Raven shuffled uncomfortably on her bed. Her room was similar to the one she had back in Titan Tower, big and full of books. She had gotten the apartment on her own and when Jinx and Zatana wanted to move out of the Tower, they were already very good friends. Before they had moved in the only room with any personality was her bedroom. She had a queen sized bed with black sheets that had purple and pink floral designs, a black comforter and black pillow cases. A desk sat next to her window, opposite the door, a desktop sat on the black stained wood with a few papers scattered next to it. Her window was blocked by blackout curtains, a dark red in place of sunlight. On either side of her bed was a nightstand; on her left was a lamp with a red cover, her left had her mirror. She didn't have a book case in her room, instead she laid them in neat stacks on her floor. All her books were sorted by genre, having occult closest to her bed and her more indulgent books – romance, tragedy, mystery - further away.

_S-So, you're okay with it?_ Raven had gotten impatient with waiting for a reply. Blackfire replied, telling her that she was proud of Jinx for taking the initiative. _O-Oh, I guess that's good then._ Blackfire then pestered her with questions about where they were going and what she'd wear, making jokes about "Jinx growing a set" and her intentions. Raven readied herself during the conversation: taking a shower, fixing her hair and picking out an outfit. A knock on her door signaled Raven to end the conversation, telling Blackfire to piss off when she made a comment about not putting out on the first date before telling to stay out of trouble. "Here goes…something, I guess" Raven said to her door, before letting Jinx in. Jinx shuffled in, her nervousness visible.

"H-Hey, Blackbird," Jinx Stuttered out, "ready to go?" Jinx wore a cream, low neck sweater, displaying her color bone and the dip between the upper most of her breasts. The sweater hugged her body, showing off her waist, hips and her flat stomach. Her legs were snugged by a pair of jeans that flaunted their slimness; a pair of low-top heel boots, light pink eye shadow, and straightened and teased hair finished her look. Raven gave her a small smile and nod, holding out her arm for Jinx to take. Jinx took a moment to fully take in Raven. Her hair was in a small Japanese bun, a few strands of her hair were hanging by the collar of her tan jacket; it wrapped around her form, partially hiding the white and blue floral blouse underneath. Her black skinny jeans showed her full backside, Jinx couldn't help but stare. Jinx, eventually, shook her herself out of reverie and escorted Raven out.

"So, where are we headed?" Raven slid into the passenger seat of the car Jinx rented for the month, one of the latest luxury models. Jinx answered her, closing Raven's door before running around to get into her seat, telling her that she planned the day. Raven accepted the answer with a nod, and a small smile.

-0-0-

Jinx slowed the car to a stop in downtown Jump, promptly getting out and opening the door for Raven. Raven looked up to see the sign for her favourite book store, Zeke's. "Um, Lucky" Raven started questioningly, "I can come her-"

"Oh, quit being a jerk and get inside" Jinx snapped at her playfully. Raven shrugged and Jinx took her waist, leading her in. Raven stiffened at the contact but relaxed when she didn't feel the arm go any lower. Inside Raven roamed the aisle, looking for a book she didn't own. Jinx slipped away when one book caught Raven's interest and started reading. She headed for the counter, in the middle of the store, "Zeke" she hissed. She looked over the counter to see an older man sleeping on the floor, partially covered by books and magazines. "Damn it, Zeke!" The man stirred, cracking his neck as her rose to meet Jinx. Zeke was an older man, looking in his late forties and sported some shadow in his chin. His thick rimmed glasses where partially covered by the scrag of his brown hair.

"Oh, Jinx" he yawned, "is it time already?"

"Damn right it is! Is she here?" The hope in Jinx's voice made the older man smile.

"I'll go get her." Zeke turned to leave, only to pause and look back at the pink hair woman, "You know she's actually a huge fan of her and you. All of you guys really." With that Zeke disappeared amidst the maze of books that was his store. Jinx sighed her relief and went to collect Raven. She found her curled up on a bean bag chair at the end of the aisle she was in, her face buried in the same book she'd left her with. Raven looked up when she heard footsteps heading her way, smiling when she saw Jinx.

"Enjoying the book" Jinx asked, taking a seat on the bean bag next to Raven.

"For, like, the hundredth time." Jinx raised an eyebrow at this, a smile playing at her face expecting the answer. "I know what you're thinking, and no I don't have this book. This is –"

"That's the first edition, isn't it?" Raven blushed a bit, mumbling things about loving the author. Jinx giggled slightly at her date, she loved seeing the bashful side of Raven. "Come on, Blackbird," said Jinx standing up and holding out her hand, "I've got something special for ya." Raven took her hand, smirking at the prospect of being surprised. Jinx led Raven to Zeke's counter, the store owner nowhere in sight. "Where the hell is that old man" Jinx wondered aloud, Raven shrugging with a smirk.

"I'm not old", Zeke appearing out of one of the many aisles of books behind the counter, "I'm well-done!"

"Yeah, yeah, and I've just been popped in the oven." Jinx smiled at the female voice that came from behind Zeke. A woman in her late twenties walked around Zeke. She had short black hair that curled around a cocoa face, she was just a few inches shorter than Raven, but walked like she was ten feet tall. She wore a simple jeans and t-shirt with black sneakers, a few bracelets jingled on either of her wrists as she walked up to Raven. "So I hear you're a fan of mine." Jinx had finally noticed the shock on Raven's face, eyes wide as dinner plates and her mouth hanging open.

"Y-You're…" Raven trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

"Patricia Solomon, and you're Raven and Jinx." Raven nodded stiffly, a smile finally edging at her lips. Patricia nodded, looking proud of herself. "Now if you'll allow me a turn to gush-" Raven had just enough time to look confused before being effectively glompped by the shorter woman, a string of squeaked "Ohmigosh"-es spilling out of her. Just as quickly as she glompped Raven, she unlatched herself and did the same to Jinx. Raven was left slightly wobbly, she watched in confusion as Jinx struggled for air. Again she detached from her target, this time dragging Jinx over to Raven and enveloped them both in another rib crushing hug. Zeke watched as the two heroines argued silently on what they should do. Eventually she released them and took a deep breath. "So…yeah….I'm a…I'm a fan of you guys to," Patricia mumbled sheepishly, a blush running her face over.

Raven and Jinx exchanged a glance before they both started giggling uncontrollably, clutching their sides and using each other to stay standing. Zeke joined in as well with an embarrassed Patricia following suit.

-0-0-

_Crap crap crap crap_ Jinx sped along the streets of Jump to their next stop. _I knew we were gonna be talking for a while, I just didn't think that we'd be a half hour late!_ The car screeched to a stop in front of Raven's favourite music store, Music Place. Unlike its usual quiet and calm atmosphere, Music Place was filled with people and sound. Sensual guitar mixed with a thick bass poured from the building and into the car. The kick of the drums vibrated the windows, and Raven already knew what band was responsible. Crushed, a band that had been born in downtown Gotham, filled the pale girls ears.

"Jinx did you…" Raven didn't finish, the girl in question had pulled Raven out of the car and was pushing her towards the back entrance of the shop. The owner, Chris, was smoking a cigarette and stomping her way to the pair.

"I-I'll see you inside." And with that Jinx shut Raven inside.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? The blonde owner was fuming. "YOU SAID TWO O'CLOCK, TWO! The band got tired of waiting and decided to start without you!"

"Sorry, Chris." Jinx hung her head, physically deflated. "She was just having so much fun with my last surprise that we…well, lost track of time?" She ended her excuse as a question, hoping that her explanation was good enough.

Chris let out an agitated sigh, "You're just lucky that Raven is my favourite customer or I'd never would have agreed to this." Jinx gave her a surprise hug and thank you. "Whatever. Now let's get inside and listen to some music, eh?" Jinx was about to agree when she thought she saw a familiar shade of yellow pass her by. Shaking it off as nothing she nodded her agreement and went to find Raven amidst the crowd of fans.

-0-0-

"So how did you get Patricia to come out here?"

Jinx and Raven were eating at enjoying dinner at one of Jump's finest restaurants, Sauter. It was located at the very edge of Upper Jump, away from the noise of the city. "Well, I kinda ran in to her while Kid Flash and I were doing our own thing. Y'know before we officially joined the Titans. And we kinda hit it off." Jinx sipped some of the soup she had ordered. Raven swallowed a fork of her salmon, her eyebrows showing her confusion.

"How did that happen?"

"She was doing a book signing in Star City, and we happened to be passing by. Some weird blob monster escaped from the science lab and went on a rampage, right outside the bookstore. So Kid and I did some super-hero-ing, and she saw us, and she was all grateful and stuff, so we ended up hanging out." Jinx shrugged at it like it wasn't anything special. Raven shook her head in disbelief. "Oh and she took us out to this great Chinese place that serves the **best** chicken dumplings!" Raven just stared at her for a moment before an escalating giggle fit took over. Jinx, at first was slightly embarrassed, blushed at how she had just realized that food really was all that she thought about. Soon Raven's giggling got to her and she slowly joined in.

As soon as they calmed themselves down, Raven asked another question. "What about Crushed?"

"It was kinda the same thing, only instead of a blob monster it was a bird, instead of Star City we were in L.A., contract renegotiation, and Italian instead of Chinese." They both shared a small smile before getting back to their food. It was during desert that Raven excused herself to the restroom; Jinx went to eat her cheesecake. When Raven disappeared behind the doors to the ladies room, a boy in orange hair and a trench coat over a yellow body suit sat in Raven's seat. "Jinx took another bite of her cheesecake before her smile faded. "What do you want Bart?"

"To find out why you're here."

Jinx took another bite of cheesecake, keeping the fork in her mouth she, made a face like she was thinking. "Well, let's see. I'm here eating food with a girl after showing her an awesome time around the city. So that must mean that I'm going fuck you, right?" Jinx ended with a big smile and a few enthusiastic nods before frowning at the unwelcomed guest. "What do you think I'm doing here, you jackass!" She hissed at the boy, who only returned her frown.

"You know what I mean, Lucky."

"You are **not **allowed to call me that, you self-centered prick!"

"Why? I'm the one who gave you that nickname, remember?" Kid Flash leaned back in Raven's seat, a smirk on his face. Jinx stayed quiet. "So, what you're telling me is that Raven gets to call you my old pet name for you and I can't. How does that work, exactly?" The iris of Jinx's eyes began to glow a faint pink, her anger clear on her face. Sparks of pink energy began to erupt over her head and hands before she took a deep breath, calming herself and sparing the restaurant of random accidents.

"It works like this," her eyes still bore a slight glow, "Raven gets to call me that because, unlike you, she actually cares about me."

"Hey, I care about you." Kid Flash put his hand to his chest in mock hurt. "Remember, I showed you just how much when we got to Metropolis." As Kid flash ended his sentence, Jinx set him flying across the restaurant with a kick to chest. She stood on the table, her eyes glowing brightly and her hands radiated her particular magick. "Okay, maybe that was uncalled for." Kid Flash slowly got up and dusted himself off. "But let's not resort to violence, Lucky." Jinx barely twitched her hand, sending a pink pulse all around the room. Kid Flash tensed up, putting his hands in front of face. A moment passed and he lowered his guard, still smirking. "I actually thought you were gon-AH!" The floor crumbled beneath him and several vases fell after him.

"D-Damn…that hurt." Kid Flash's voice came from the bottom of the hole; Jinx didn't have to check to know that he was lying face down covered in dirt and plant. "See, if you keep acting violently you going to bring down this nice restaurant and then we'll have to pay for dam-" Jinx waved her hand again and the floor closed up with no trace that it had just been in the basement.

"Raven taught me that, you light speed jackass!" Jinx took her seat and resumed eating her cheesecake. She got a text message a few seconds later.

From: Jackass

I'll be up in a second

Jinx looked up from her phone and Kid Flash was back in Raven's seat. "Do I really have to break your legs to get away from you?" Kid Flash shrugged, not really knowing the answer himself.

"Are you really a lesbian?"

"I only feel this way about her."

"Then it's pent up sexual frustration."

"You're an ass."

"And you still love me."

"I thought I loved you." Jinx glared at him, his face remained blank. "Then I started to actually see what we were doing. All we did was fool around and all you did was say cheesy pick-up lines whenever I felt bad."

"It got you out of your funk whenever I did."

"If you really think that then you really are a jackass. All you did was distract me for a minute, you never wanted to actually know what was wrong."

"You never let me in!"

"Because I didn't really love you!"

"AND YOU LOVE HER?"

"YES!"

They stayed quiet for a few moments. The rest of the restaurant was quietly hunched over and watched the exchange from the corners of their eyes. Kid Flash spoke first, "It's just hormones. You're too young to know what you want." Jinx was about to retort but he cut her off with a wave of his hand. "It's science, you're still a kid and need to explore yourself, I don't blame you." Kid Flash stood from the table and apologized to the staff passing by and the patrons in the immediate area. "It's only natural that you'll come back to me. You can't fight nature." With that Kid Flash left, leaving a fuming Jinx to think on his words.

"That yellow, quick-shooting, science-y, future, prick!" Jinx was mumbling into her cheese cake when Raven returned.

"So I take it that you're still angry."

"You heard?"

"Felt. Empath, remember?" Jinx nodded, she stared at her plate, thinking. Raven asked one of the, now, jumpy staff for a box, and the pair got on their way. When they got to the car Jinx pulled out a pack of cigarettes and started smoking. "What the hell are you doing?" Raven snatched the stick out of Jinx's mouth, and stomped it out. Jinx took out another one and avoided Raven's hands. "Jinx!"

"Calm down, Blackbird, I'm eighteen." Jinx took a long drag of her cigarette. Raven glared at her. "I picked it up when Kid and I were in Metropolis." Raven continued to glare at her, Jinx started to get annoyed. "Look, meditation may be how you deal with stress but the rest of us aren't so good at it that we can be all…zen-ed out and stuff." Raven glared for a bit longer before Jinx gave a defeated sigh. "Bart was here."

"I figured."

"Didya' figure that he's an ass" Jinx snapped. Raven gave her an even stare and Jinx sighed again. "Sorry, he just gets me so pissed sometimes."

Raven answered dryly, "apparently." Jinx took another drag before Raven continued. "Want to talk about it?"

"No…it's not important."

"I felt how important it is from the stall. C'mon let's talk." Raven gave Jinx a small smile but the pink girl just huffed at her. "Jinx you have to talk these things out of you want this," Raven gestured to herself and Jinx, "to work." Jinx turned, her back facing Raven, and took another drag.

_It's not just hormones…it has nothing to do with how beautiful she looks all the time, how she moves when she's fighting, or how she fills me with peace whenever I see her meditating. _Jinx thought more of how much she felt about her. _She's nice, playful. She was the only person to console me when I'd left Bart. She's the only person that helped make me better, not: Brother Blood, The Hive-Five, Madame Rouge. Just her. Those eyes that make me think of everything that she's experienced and that calm face that told me that she'd always be in control._ Jinx felt a small heat grow on her face._ Her smooth, soft hands that make sparks go off every time she touches mine. _Her head started to feel light. _Her slender neck that holds that beautiful mind of hers, _Jinx's breathing turned to small pants,_ and her stunning legs that keep her moving forward, regardless of the dangers she knows she has to face. _Jinx couldn't take it anymore, she spun around and quickly approached Raven, and tossed her cigarette away. Raven, being too concerned about her friend's behavior, didn't notice the dramatic change in Jinx's emotions.

Jinx was on her before Raven felt the tongue in her mouth. Jinx explored the shorter girl's mouth, in earnest. She held Raven by her shoulders; her hands gripping tighter with every second, lost in Raven's flavor. Raven barely noticed her own hands slowly running along Jinx's sides, eventually resting them around the pink girl's neck. Jinx pushed Raven up against her rental car, nipping at Raven's lower lip. Raven let a small moan slip when Jinx ran her fingers along her thigh. Jinx seemed to lose all thought after hearing Raven moan into her mouth, breaking the kiss and burying her lips in Raven's neck. Raven held Jinx there as the pink haired girl licked and nipped at her date's pulse point.

"Jinx…s-stop." Raven could barely speak, her body not used to the stimulation. Jinx began fiddling with Raven's jeans, trying to un-fix the button. Jinx began whispering in Raven's ear. Words seeped in sexuality and huskiness; she guessed her mind too fuzzy to remember. Jinx gave up with the button and shoved her hand behind the waist band of the jeans, immediately drenching her hand when she hit Raven's core. It was the contact that brought Raven out of her daze. "STOP," the shorter girl yelled as she used her powers to shove Jinx off of her.

Jinx hit the ground a few meters away, landing hard on her backside, jolting her back to herself. "Wuh…w-what the…" Jinx held her head in her hands, groaning. "Ra-Raven!" Jinx quickly climbed to her feet as and rushed to Raven. "G-God, I'm so sorry, Raven. I- don't know what happened, I-I," she reached out a hand to Raven who flinched slightly. "I…I"

"I think I'll go." Raven turned her back to Jinx, and said over her, "Thanks for tonight, Lucky." Raven teleported, leaving Jinx in the parking lot. The pink haired girl nodded, and quietly sat in the driver's seat. Jinx lit another cigarette and opened her window, thinking about nothing and letting her mind go blank.

-0-0-

Raven teleported with no place in mind, just needing to get away from Jinx and to get some advice. When the darkness slipped from her body she found herself in front of Blackfire's apartment. Raven spoke sarcastically at the door, "Well, if I'm going to get molested I might as well go out, huh?" She tried the door. It was locked. "Crap." _Komi_… Raven opened the mental link that she and Blackfire had made weeks ago. _Komi? _Nothing. _Ko~mi~….are you even awake?_ Raven stood in the hallway, staring at the door. She thought a moment and blushed at what she thought would surely get her friend's attention. She took a deep breathe, physically and mentally and shot words at Blackfire like a rain of bullets. _KomiI'mnakedoustideyourdoorwaitingforyou_… After hearing nothing, still, Raven mentally shouted, _KOMI!_

A second later Blackfire's voice came back angrily, _WHAT? Damn it, Songbird, you don't have to shout._

_Sorry, Jinx and I finished our date so I decided to come and visit. Where are you anyways?_

_I'm out, right now, and I'll probably be another hour or so._ Blackfire stopped talking for a moment, confusing Raven slightly, before starting up again. _Sorry. I'm kinda in another conversation at the moment._ Raven shook her head a bit and relaxed against the door, with it to her back.

_It's fine. I'll let you get back to your conversation._ Raven was about to say goodbye and head back to her apartment when Blackfire interrupted her.

_Hey! I decide who I talk to at what time. Now you tell me about your date while I rub my awesomeness in this person's face. _Raven chuckled slightly and slid along the door until she reached the floor, with her knees to her chin.

_Fine._ Raven told her about how Jinx set up all their activities. How she met her favourite author and saw her favourite band at her favourite stores. She retold the anecdotes that Patricia had to her. About half an hour had passed and raven could tell that Blackfire was struggling to keep the conversations separate. A few times already the Tamaranian had messed up her responses, telling Raven a pick up line that would have made sense to the intended. _Komi, you can't keep doing this. I'll let you get back to your date okay._

_Damn it, Songbird! _Raven jumped a bit. _Listen, I still want to hear about your date. _Raven heard Blackfire mentally sigh. _Listen, there's a spare key…_ Raven obeyed Blackfire's instructions and found the key, making a mental note to ask her about it when she returned. Raven checked the clock that hung in Blackfire living room. 8:30. Raven shrugged and picked up a book that was sitting on the sofa. A small pile of books sat on the floor below it. She had a habit of bringing a book, or two, with her when she visited Blackfire. Raven, after an hour of none stop reading, set the book down and called out into the apartment. Hearing no response she figured that Blackfire hadn't returned yet. She could recount a few instances of when she was reading and Blackfire had been in and out of the apartment multiple times. She could also recount when Blackfire had used her obliviousness for mischief; setting plates on her head, risqué dancing, and even going so far as to walk around her apartment nude.

Raven, not being one to opt for television, struggled with what she should do to pass the time. Normally, reading would be her first choice; however, after the eventfulness of her evening, another book would most likely exasperate her stress. She wanted to talk about what had happened, to get advice from Blackfire. She would never ask her for advice, usually, but this was an unusual situation. Raven knew that Blackfire was, very, active. And she accepted that, she also accepted that Blackfire was very grab-y. And tongue-y. Both awake and asleep, Blackfire would touch and pull and rub and lick whatever was around. This was usually Raven, when she slept over. Blackfire's apartment was only a one bedroom deal, so when Raven slept over it was in Blackfire's bed. On more than one occasion she'd awaken to a tongue lapping at her cheek and mumblings of various foods.

Raven's mind swirled with images of Jinx and herself. Some replaying what had happened and other showing what she thought might have happened hadn't stopped herself, and the pink haired girl. She started getting lightheaded again. Her breathing got heavier as the images got more vivid. Her face took on a red tint as her hands started wander. She then, violently,

shook her head. Taking deep breaths, she wobbled to the restroom. Stripped down and took a cold shower. She got out after, what she hoped wasn't, an hour and entered Blackfire's room. The alarm clock on the night stand told her that it was, indeed, an hour. _She's probably "busy." _Raven huffed and fished out a pair of boy shorts and a sports bra, from the closet.

Raven climbed into her usual spot, on Blackfire's bed. Taking the side furthest from the wall that the length of the bed was pushed against. She lay facing the wall with her back to the door. Sleep came slowly for her, she mostly stared at Blackfire's pillow waiting for it. Just as she drifted off she heard the front door open and close, then footsteps, and the bedroom door opening and Blackfire tripping slightly on her hubcap. Raven hadn't moved, keeping her breathing even and her eyes closed. Blackfire crawled slowly over Raven and onto her side of the bed, sighing. Raven was about to surprise her, when Blackfire surprised her first. "Sorry I'm late, Songbird." Blackfire snuggled up to Raven, one arm slipping under the shorter girl's head and one laying lazily on her hip. Raven's face went hot and she lost the desire to chew Blackfire out, for being so late.

Raven was about to settle in when she felt Blackfire's hand give her rear a firm squeeze, making her buck and pushed herself closer to the Tamaranian. "That's for thinking that I wouldn't notice that you were awake." Blackfire laughed as Raven gave her a flurry of feather light punches to her head.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Author Post-Note Thing(s):

Yeah, took me a while. But! I has good(decent) reason for this happening. I've just started up a Paptastic account and I've been sketching out roughs for my comic(?). It's gonna be centered around my friend, from when I lived in the states. He's also going to be doing the final art for it. Basically it's a comic version of all the anecdotes he has, and stories that I've been a part of. No real story to it, but it's really funny because he's kinda insane. But in a good way! Look for that soon and I promise that I'll try to update at least twice a month for –almost- all my stories.

Also, a guest(misfit) mentioned that this story is similar to anim8tor's story Left to Love. I looked back at my previous chapters and understood what he meant. In that story, Raven and Blackfire hook up and are together for quite some time, but eventually Raven ends up with Terra after things that happen for reasons – I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it. While it is similar, Raven's relationship to everyone else is important to my story. And – at least from what I gathered from the author notes from anim8tor – we both began writing with the fore thought of "this is how I feel they would have developed and that's why this is that." But there are quite a few differences, read Left to Love and point them out. I won't lie that Left to Love was a big inspiration for this story – in terms of length and storytelling – because it is a great piece of fanfiction and I really do wish that it would be completed.

However, they are both romance and drama heavy stories. Some of the better stories – as I see it – are better because the minor conflicts that happen during their arcs. Another thing is the discovery of love that's a big part of decent romance stories, especially when it starts out with the main being single. I do have a have something planned for this relationship, and it will be majorly reliant on Jinx. This is the first arc of several, and I hope you guys will enjoy them. Thank you for reading this nice block of text that gives reasons as to why one story reminds one person of another story, like that story about that person with the hair. You know the one I mean.

One more bit. Could I get some feedback about the parts I hope were sexy. I need to know if you guys liked it so I know if I can properly do lemons and such. Also if you hadn't noticed, I got an editor for my stories, he happens to be my friend from the states that I mentioned earlier. So, hopefully, I'll have less spelling and grammar-ing errs.


	4. Chapter 4

Author Note Things:

So so so so so so so sorry that it took so long to upload. Personal problems and the such. But it's here Chapter 4! And there will be some action-y things, I'm just not so great with those. Red said it was fine when he emailed the edited copy back to me, but I'm still not sure. So some feedback would be heavily appreciated. Also to address the tense issue some people have brought up. We've both looked back at the previous chapters and didn't find anything wrong with it. Red's mostly mad that I had a few chapters uploaded before he could fix the grammer and spelling. If you guys still see grammer errors could you please copy and paste an example in the review so we can understand what you be talking about. Also, ? Is for What's Next? Is going to be re-done by Red. Mainly because he doesn't like how I didn't proof it…and spell check it…or have coherent anything. So that'll be up again after a few weeks of Red making things nice and the way he wants it. He'll also be uploading a Harry Potter Fic when he uploads ?...?(- this is easier). You'll be able to find all that on my profile, as he'll be my co-aurthor/editor…WE'RE A TEAM! Now do some reading, then review.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Blackfire's laughter was finally getting to Raven. Making her nearly forget the reason she was at Blackfire's apartment. "O…Okay," Blackfire managed between laughs, "So… you were telling me about your date." The pair soon calmed themselves enough to speak without giggling. Raven gave a small nod in confirmation. "I think we left at seeing your favourite band at your favourite music shop, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" Raven paused, unsure of how best to word the conclusion of her day. After a few moments Raven gave a small sigh, still not sure of whether or not she should continue. "After the concert we left and had dinner at a pretty nice restaurant." Raven sat up, her legs hanging off the bed and the blanket slipping off her right arm. Blackfire followed suit. After a moment of confusion, the Tamaranian wrapped an arm around Raven's shoulders.

"Listen, Songbird. Obviously, something happened. If you don't want to talk about it – "

"No…it's fine," Raven sighed, "it's just… I don't know what to do!" Blackfire gave her a small squeeze, telling her to continue. "Something happened at dinner, while I was in the restroom, someone showed up and pissed Jinx off."

"I swear it wasn't me!" Blackfire, trying to lighten the mood, got Raven to smile a bit.

"No. But I know who it was. I just don't know why." Blackfire gave Raven a nod every so often; letting the pale girl know that she was, indeed, listening. "So, this **person, " **Raven put emphasis on the word, letting Blackfire know that the person was not well liked. "Decided to show up and ruin everything. It was going so well to." Raven stared at the ground, remembering every detail of her day with Jinx. "Then, after I got back, he was already gone and I could practically see the anger coming off her. We ended up boxing our deserts and headed out." Raven kept her voice even, never letting it falter. "Did you know that Jinx smokes." Raven let it out like a statement more than a question. Blackfire raised an eyebrow at the randomness of the statement. "S-Sorry. Then I asked her if she wanted to talk about it. About her...**guest**. She just got mad. I tried to get her to open up so we could work it put together, but she just angrier. She got quiet for a while when I tried to explain that if she wanted us to work, that we had to be open. That we had to trust each other. Then she just…threw herself at me!"

At that Blackfire jumped off the bed and kicked open her closet, and began digging through it. Raven looked on surprised, and confused. "Uh, Komi, what are you doing?"

"I going to kick the crap out of that pink-headed moron!" It was then that Blackfire found what she was looking for. She turned around and began putting on her battle suit, muttering things of violence. Raven, finally realizing what was happening, grabbed Blackfire and tried to hold her back. "I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, YOU JUST DON'T DO THAT!"

"SHE DIDN'T RAPE ME!" Blackfire froze in Raven's arms, both girls panting. "She didn't do that, Komi, she'd never do that!" Blackfire nodded slightly and slumped back onto the bed, slowly removing the pieces that she'd already gotten on. Raven dropped next to her and leaned her head on Blackfire's shoulder. Both of them stayed silent as Blackfire finished taking of her battle suit, and for the moments that happened afterwards.

"What happened next?"

"I left." Raven let another sigh escape her. _I've been sighing a lot lately._ "Then I came here." Blackfire pulled away from the shorter girl and gave her questioning look. "I needed a friend. I needed you." A corner of Blackfire's lips lifted a bit. "It's not like I can go to Zatanna or your sister for something like this."

Blackfire suppressed a laugh. "Well I'm not Zatanna, and I'm definitely not Starfire, so I guess that makes sense." Blackfire pulled Raven into a half-hug before standing up and stretching. "C'mon… let's get some breakfast."

"It's like…" Raven picked up the small analog clock/radio from the nightstand, looking at it before turning it to face Blackfire. "It's three in the morning!"

"Exactly."

-0-0-

A faint beeping from his communicator pulled Robin from his sleep. Rubbing his eyes, over his mask, the Boy Wonder reached for his utility belt on the floor below him. He pulled the small device from a pocket on the belt, letting the beep ring out clearly. "Robin" Starfire yawned his name, rolling over in bed to face him. "Are we needed?"

"No, not yet." Robin kissed his girlfriend's forehead and got out of bed. "Go back to sleep, Kori. I've got to check on something." Starfire gave a mumbled okay and closed her eyes, leaving Robin to slide into a pair a jeans and exit his bedroom. He made his way to his auxiliary room. Every leader had an auxiliary room, located in different parts of the Tower. It was in these rooms that the original Titans set up patrol routes, set assignments, and whatever else they could think of. Raven's was on the top floor, were the other magick users were located. Starfire's two floors down, close to those that she was in charge of. Cyborg added a room to the garage that he used for an auxiliary, and for when he was working on a secret new invention. Beastboy's was located at the base of the Tower, where he had a view of the beach. Robin took the old Operation's room, it being in the middle of the Tower and down the hall from the common room.

Robin put his communicator on the pad outside his auxiliary room. A small beep indicated that the scanner recognized that it was Robin's communicator and the door slid open. The large screen at the back of the room displayed a picture of Ding Dong Daddy leaving Gotham City. Robin smirked to himself, "Now why would you be in my hometown?" Robin quickly typed in a search for latest reported crimes in Gotham. "Let's see… Riddler robs bank…Penguin suspected of Faberge egg..." Robin continued down the list, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "Here we go. A robbery reported at Gotham General, but what the hell could you steal from a hospital." Robin continued down the police report, looking for mention of the stolen object. At the end of the report the officer noted that the hospital director, Anthony Smith, refused to disclose any information about the stolen object. Robin hummed while he accessed the Wayne Industries database.

Robin knew that almost every building in Gotham used Wayne Industries products. He was scrolling through the list of items bought from Gotham General when a window opened on screen. "Robin."

"Hey, Bruce."

"Why are you going through the Wayne Industries records and Gotham PD police reports?"

"One of the villains from Jump showed up in the Global Facial Recognition Scanner, he was reported leaving Gotham around the time of the Gotham General robbery. I need to find out what he stole." Robin looked up at the screen. The entire window was blacked out, taking up most of the screen and forcing Robin to stop his search.

A few moments passed and neither one spoke. Clicking was heard and the screen minimized and more windows opened in its place. "This is a nuclear reactor developed by Lex Corp. It's supposed to be the future of how we'll power factories and businesses." As his mentor spoke, the screens enlarged and minimized, zooming in and out and focusing on what Batman deemed important. "…the reactor is directly connected to the hospital database for all their: patients, stock of vaccines, organs, and employees. The entire thing was controlled by a small hard-drive disc."

"Was?"

"I'm sure you can figure that one out." Robin rolled his eyes and thanked his mentor. "Be careful out there." With that the windows that had accompanied Batman closed, showing the picture of Ding Dong Daddy leaving Gotham in his hot rod.

-0-0-

Raven followed Blackfire down the street from her apartment, both girls still dressed in their sleep ware, with the only difference being that they wore bath robes over everything. They had been walking for the past quarter hour with Raven holding herself, shivering slightly; Blackfire kept a pace that put at least five steps between them. "Komi, where the hell are we going?" Blackfire responded by lazily flicking her wrist, vaguely, in Raven's direction. Raven stared holes into the back of Blackfire's head as she led the way into a small alley.

They made their way down the dirty alley way until Blackfire stopped in front of a homeless man with a guitar. He wore a blanket over a dirty, red Hawaiian shirt and tattered, black slacks. His dark skin contrasted with his white goatee and his eyes were behind aviator sunglasses. He turned his head up when Blackfire stopped. "Smells like a lady who can't help but look for trouble." Both he and Blackfire smirked, his country accent showing slightly. "How's it going, Komilla?"

"Hey, Beau. Pretty good, actually; went on a date yesterday."

"Really now." Beau was genuinely surprised to hear that. Beau had known Blackfire since she had arrived on Earth and he had never known the young woman to ever go on actual dates. "Are you sure it was a date, and not just you getting' free food for tellin' a girl she look pretty?" Raven chuckled a bit at how familiar the elder man was with Blackfire. Blackfire heard her and huffed at both of them, causing the Beau to laugh to. The two laughed at Blackfire while she glared at them both. "So…is this the little lady that actually got ya' tah sit down for more than five minutes" Beau asked while wiping a tear from behind his glasses. Both girls blushed turned their heads away from each other. "I take that as either a 'most definitely' or 'we're just friends, old man'." Beau started laughing again.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Blackfire huffed again, her arms crossed over her chest. "Listen, Beau, we were wondering if Lily was in." Beau took deep breathes to calm his laughing before scratching at his chin. They waited until Beau gave shrug, making Blackfire drop her head. Beau laughed again before standing up, grunting over his large belly. He gave a few light stretches until they all heard popping sounds, making Blackfire grimace. The elder man then reached down and patted around the ground until he pulled up his guitar.

"Now if you lovely ladies will accompany me," Beau reached into his pocket, pulling a pencil sized stick from inside. "I will lead you to breakfast." He jerked the pencil towards the ground; it extended until it clicked, now a meter in length. He started walking, waving and tapping the stick at the space in front of him. "Come now, ladies. Breakfast is only served to those who show up!" He continued down the alley, not waiting for them and leaving Raven to stare wide-eyed. Blackfire quickly made her way behind Raven and directed her forward with a push.

They reached the end of the alley way less than a minute later. Beau started tapping along the wall in front of him, making Raven cock her brow in confusion. The wall was empty. No doors or windows. She looked to Blackfire who was waiting patiently with a smile on her face. "Come on, then! Food's waitin'." Raven turned back to Beau, an archway had opened up in the wall about two meters tall and a meter wide. Raven was directed, by Blackfire, into the opening and it was then that she could feel a powerful aura, filled with magickal energy. "It's an old trick used during the Crusades to hide people with magickal ability and those with extraordinary aura." The archway opened up to: tables and chairs, a bar, and an aquarium holding an array of odd looking fish. The room wasn't terribly large, nor was it cramped, just big enough to feel comfortable.

Five circular tables with three chairs at each took up most of the space, while the bar clung to the left of where they were standing. Everything was made of wood and looked handmade, making the place feel more like a home than anything. A door in the corner of the room was partially hidden by the bar counter, enough room for someone to quickly run in and out. Beau was about to speak when the door opened up and a familiar face welcomed them. "Hi! Welcome to Lily's, grab a seat and I'll…be…right…" Patricia Solomon stood in the doorway, holding a small notepad and pencil, looking dumbstruck. Beau and Blackfire had already taken their seats at the closest table from the door and had failed to notice that Raven hadn't joined them. They, finally, noticed that Raven was still standing when Patricia shouted, "OMIGOSH, RAVEN!" and nearly knocked Raven to the floor when she ran in for a hug.

After a bone-crushing squeeze and Blackfire laughing at Raven's expense, Patricia took their orders and went to prepare their drinks. When Patricia disappeared behind the door Raven, asked, "So, am I the only one who's confused by any of this?" Blackfire nudged Beau, asking if he could explain.

"Well, Patty is Miss Lily's granddaughter. So when she come n' visit she stays here. But ol' Lily won' let her stay for free, so she put her to work-"

"I meant about how this place has gone unnoticed for so long."

"Oh, that!" Blackfire chuckled a bit while Beau scratched at his chin, thinking of how best to explain. "Well, like I said before, the magick used to hide this place was from a time of great strife for magick folk. They were hunted down by the Inquisitors who had powerful artifacts that alerted them to the presence of magickal blood. My ancestors were part of a secret division for the Inquisition after the eighth crusade, the one meant to remove heretics and all those who did not follow their faith. They were taken from their homes and forced to hunt down their neighbors and friends." Beau paused when Patricia came by with their drinks, and left again to help her grandmother. "Some years and several generation later, Gaston Blanc escaped with his wife Claire. They made it their life's work to protect anyone that the Inquisition may target, and so they did. And their children, and their children and so on."

Raven absorbed what Beau had told her, but before she could ask him why it was relevant Patricia returned with their breakfast. "Ah, now if you'll leave such matters for later let's dig in!" They ate in, what looked like, comfortable silence with Patricia sitting at the next table sipping at a large mug of coffee. What was actually happening, was Raven questioning Blackfire about Beau and the restaurant. Blackfire simply shushed her every time she heard Raven's voice in her head. Patricia, bored of watching other people eat, decided to strike up conversation with Blackfire, but was halted before she could even open her mouth.

"Now, Patty." Patricia froze, with her mouth open, at the sweet voice that broke the silence. "I know you ain't thinkin' of botherin' these nice people with your chitter chatter."

"O-Of course not Gamma! Just wondering if they wanted a refill!"

"Leave the poor girl, Lily" Beau said after swallowing a forkful of egg and steak. "She's probably just curious as to why Komilla hasn't told how pretty she is, yet." Both Blackfire and Patricia blushed and avoided each other eyes. Raven raised an eyebrow and gave Blackfire a suspicious look, but decided not to pry. "That silence probably means both girls are already making my funeral arrangements." Beau, Lily and Raven chuckled a bit before Beau and Lily talked amongst themselves, leaving the younger members to laugh and enjoy anecdotes and stories about Patricia's toddler-hood.

Breakfast ended with Beau rubbing his belly and thanking Lily and Patricia for a wonderful meal. "Komilla, may I talk with you for a moment?" Beau picked up his cane and gestured to the other end of the room. "Alone." Blackfire nodded, getting up and thanking Lily and Patricia as well. Lily nodded to Raven who nodded back as the older woman started to clear the table before disappearing through the door to the kitchen. Patricia went to do the same, but Raven stopped her with a hand on her wrist.

"Patricia, I…" Raven scratched the back of head sheepishly, knowing that she was acting on impulse. "I need some advice." Patricia's eyes went wide and glistened; another one of her heroes was asking a personal favour of her, twice in two days. Raven grew concerned when Patricia hadn't moved for a few seconds, watching the cocoa skinned girls watch her with big eyes and a small smile. "Uh…Patricia? You okay?" Patricia shook herself back to normal, assuring Raven that it would be her pleasure to help in any way possible. "R-Right…" Patricia took Beau's seat, opposite Raven, and nodded for her to start. Raven quickly glanced over at Blackfire and Beau before looking Patricia in the eyes and let out a tired sigh.

"So, you know how yesterday Jinx took me on a date right?" Patricia gave a quick nod. "Well…it was great. She was fun, she looked beautiful and I'm pretty sure yesterday was the best day I've ever had…" Patricia smiled while Raven told her of her night with Jinx. The entire story was marked by the small smile on Raven's lips, she smiled until she got to the restaurant. Patricia noticed the change in mood and subconsciously scooted closer to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. Raven continued on with a forced smile. "…Then Kid Flash ended up ruining everything." Raven gave an exasperated sigh. "She was so mad that…" Raven decided to forego the rest of the night. "That, uh…we had…a fight."

"I'm guessing that you have no idea what you can do make everything good between you two again, huh?" Raven gave a weak nod before burying her head in her hands. "Well, the obvious question is if you want things to be good like it was before." Raven looked up from behind her hands, cocking her eyebrow. "Think about it this way. If the fight was that bad, maybe you guys can't really be anything more than friends. But, that doesn't mean you'll be friends like you were. There's still going to be at least one of you thinking about that date. Thinking about how you both felt before everything turned south." Raven took a while to absorb Patricia's words. She knew that what Patricia said held some truth to it. She would always remember that night.

"My main question is, do you want things to go back? Before the date?"

Raven had thought about that. It'd been on her mind since she'd gotten to Blackfire's apartment, and through breakfast. Before she could think more on it Blackfire came up behind Patricia and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for the food Patty!" she said, burying her face in Patricia's hair and rubbing against the back of her neck. Patricia shivered, losing herself in the hug.

"Could you have possibly picked a worse moment?" Raven glared at Blackfire, meeting her eyes through Patricia's locks. Just by looking at her eyes Raven could tell she was grinning, and preparing a comeback.

"Well you got yourself a pretty girl, so why can't I?"

"I'm just saying tha-…wait. WHO?" Blackfire ignored her and continued to nuzzle Patricia's neck, making her blush. "Who?" Blackfire gave Patricia a peck on the cheek and ran out the archway, shouting goodbye's and thank you's. "KOMI! Get back here and answer me!" Raven chased after Blackfire, leaving a smiling Beau and a blushing Patricia.

-0-0-

"AAAAAUUUUUUUGH!" The dark room echoed Harley's groans. "I'm SOOOO bored!" Harley Quinn crawled along the floor; her hyenas, Bud and Lou, copying her. Bonk and Leslie 2 were watching cartoons and eating cereal on the couch, laughing and spilling food all over the floor. Harley sat on her knees and shouted at Bonk and Leslie 2's direction. "BOYS!" Bonk and Leslie stood to attention, dropping their bowls and the Tv remote. Bonk, the oldest and largest, stood at a towering 7'4''. His girth made him even more menacing; When Harley made his suit, she needed quadruple the original amount. Leslie 2 was very much the opposite of his older brother. He stood almost half of Bonk's height and was as thin as a derringer pistol. Both wore opaque purple body suits, and party hat. Their faces painted white and cheeks coloured with a heavy blush.

"C'mon. Mommy's bored and Daddy hasn't wanted to play since we got here. Now get the car ready and we'll have a little fun while Daddy's sleeping." Her boys looked at her with reluctance. Bonk had seen what happened to his sister and didn't want the same for Leslie 2, and Leslie 2 was terrified that soon there may be a Leslie 3. They stood, fidgeting under their mother's gaze, that was getting more and more annoyed. Harley had a full scowl before a look of revelation filled her pale face. "If you're good and get in the car we'll get ice cream~" Bonk and Leslie 2 beamed as they grabbed Bud and Lou and, practically, skipped to the van.

Harley stopped to pick up her purse when movement in the shadows caught her eye. "Come on out, Shimmer. No need to hide from Auntie." Harley grinned as she knew that only she and Shimmer could move around the hideout with making almost no sound. And Shimmer did walk out into the light, a grin on her face and a strut in her step.

"I don't think that Uncle Jay's gonna like that you and my…cousins went out for ice cream, Auntie." Her voice hinted at glee, and Harley knew exactly what she wanted.

"We'll make a juice stop…that is, if you wanna join us." Harley turned and cartwheeled to the van. Shimmer ran after her and soon they were off.

-0-0-

Beastboy, Cyborg and Robin stood in their kitchen, one of whom was nearly falling over trying to stay awake. "Wha'dya need us fer, Robin?" Beastboy said through a yawn. Cyborg immediately started to make coffee for his two friends, who needed more of a kick to get rolling.

"I've got news on The Joker."

Cyborg nearly dropped the coffee pitcher and Beastboy was, now, fully awake. They stood waiting patiently for what they expected was a plan.

-0-0-

Two figures ran through the dawn lit streets of Jump City, both in bathrobes. Blackfire kept a healthy pace ahead of Raven while Raven was starting to pant. "Komi! Please! Can't we…take a…break?" Blackfire slowed to a jog and led the way to the park closest to her apartment. She continued on until she found a suitable bench to wait for her friend. Raven slowed to a wheezing and panting stop, resting her hands on her knees for support.

"Why didn't you just fly, Songbird?"

"Because…for some reason you like to buy bathrobes that are way too short, and I don't want to risk someone seeing anything." Raven finally started to breathe normally, before slumping next to Blackfire on the bench. "Seriously, these things don't even reach my knees." She was right. They bathrobes she borrowed from Blackfire only went, about, half-way down her thigh. Blackfire wore one similar, but was less than concerned with what she was showing. The two stayed in silence for a while, enjoying the scene of the park before people heading to work could ruin it. _It sure is beautiful out here._

_Some things are more beautiful, but at least I get to see this everyday as a consolation prize._ Raven turned her head to see Blackfire gazing up at the trees above them, smiling. The bands of light speckled Blackfire's face, making her eyes sparkle a bright purple. Raven continued to stare until Blackfire gave her a sideways look, scaring Raven and making her blush. Blackfire laughed before putting an arm around Raven's shoulders and pulling her in close. _Loosen up, Songbird. You already know the answers to any question you have. The trouble is not knowing if you'll like it._ Raven took in what Blackfire said. She let her friend's wisdom sink in, she knew what choice she wanted to make. She just wasn't sure if it was the one that would make her happy.

Eventually, Raven decided that what Blackfire said was true, and rested her head on Blackfire's shoulder. Neither spoke, wanting to enjoy the quiet before the business rush implored them to return home and dress.

A car slowly left the car park. The luxury style of the car made it easy to make a quiet escape. Cigarette smoke was the only trail it left as the driver sped to Upper Jump City.

Raven and Blackfire continued to sit in silence. The beauty of the park had relaxed them enough that they were near asleep. It was the blaring beeping sound that erupted from the pocket of Raven's robe that interrupted their peace. They both jumped at the sound before Raven angrily rummaged around her robe, searching for the loud device. She flipped it open as soon as she found it, and Robin's face was on screen. "Harley Quinn is robbing the Downtown Bank! We need you to keep them their until Beastboy, Cyborg and I can get there!"

"On my way!"

Raven flipped the communicator closed and looked to Blackfire. She was still smiling, "Get going, Songbird. You've got things to do, and choices to make." Raven gave a quick nod and teleported to Blackfire's bedroom and quickly hanged into her Titans outfit. She flew out the balcony and to the bank, calling Zatanna and Jinx's communicators on the way.

Blackfire watched Raven leave from the park. She wasn't aware of the body behind her.

-0-0-

"Awe, would you look at that, boys?" Harley perched herself on one of the teller kiosks. "They have an ice cream shop!" Bud and Lou were standing over the bodies of the over-night security guards, and Bonk and Leslie 2 were scooping themselves sundaes. The bank vault was torn open and smoking, burn and blast marks ringed the hole that once had a two-ton door. Duffle-bags were tossed out of the vault, the janitor had been forcibly recruited as the "money-mole."

"Mom?" Bonk's voice was high pitched and child-like. "Where's cousin?"

"She went to take care of lady things, pumpkin. Don't worry, we'll pick her up before we head home, kay?" Bonk and Leslie 2 smiled and continued to eat their sundaes while Harley barked orders at the janitor and waved a machine gun around. Raven, Zatanna and Jinx sat on the roof of the Bank. Raven used a spell that made the concrete of the roof similar to a two-way mirror; where they could look in, but Harley and the rest couldn't see out.

"So that's what we're dealing with!' Zatanna was scared. Raven didn't need to be an empath to figure that out. Zatanna looked on, the hyenas started to eat what was left of the guards, and watched as Harley fired a few bursts into the vault to scare the janitor into working faster. They disturbed her. The fact the Harley was so happy about what she was doing, that Bonk and Leslie 2 were eating ice cream while two people were being devoured by their pets. What scared her most was what their boss would be like. She'd only seen The Joker on the news when she was in Gotham, and most recently when he first arrived in Jump. But, she'd never seen him in real life.

"Rabbit." Raven's voice brought Zatanna out of her shocked state. Jinx put a hand on her shoulder to help relax her. "You don't have to go in there if you don't want to. And we don't have to take them on alone for long, we just need to keep them here until back up shows." Zatanna gave a stiff nod, her mind was filled with what The Joker could do. What he would do.

"I-I'm fine." Zatanna had found her voice. "I'll set up a three level barrier: one that goes around the room, one that goes around the building, and one that goes around the last. I'll tell Robin the password to let him and the others pass through." The other nodded, both already guessing that since they'd been protected from Raven's magick before they'd have something to get around magickal barriers as well. Zatanna whispered the incantations and a quick flash of yellow filled their vision. They looked down and saw that Harley and her macabre family had noticed it as well. The janitor, too afraid to open his eyes continued throwing the bags of money out of the vault. Harley called her family into a tight circle around the money and forced the janitor to lay on top of it. Raven looked to Jinx, noticing the distance in her eyes.

"Lucky-"

"Put me over there behind the kiosks. The bullet proof glass will be a good advantage." Jinx said every word slowly. Her voice was hollow and raspy. Jinx looked to Raven. "We don't have time for that now, Blackbird." The bags under her eyes told Raven everything she needed to know, and the emotion she could feel confirmed it. Raven nodded and quickly muttered a spell that the others didn't catch. Jinx's body was engulfed in a flash of black energy before returning to normal. She was about to question what Raven did before she was covered again in Raven's special magick, and finding herself behind the kiosk. Jinx looked up at the spot where she knew Raven and Zatanna were sitting. She shrugged up at Raven, knowing that Raven could see her. When she got no response she shook her head and made her way along the kiosks.

Zatanna gave Raven a curious look. "She smelled like cigarettes." Zatanna 'oh'd' in understanding. "So, you gonna stay up here and keep the barriers up?" Zatanna hung her head, the disappointment flowing of off her in waves. "It's okay, Rabbit. You know I'd never make you go down there if you didn't want to. And who can blame you. These guys are some of the worst villains in the world. Other villains are scared of these guys! You've proven yourself before, and this doesn't change who you are." Zatanna let a tear fall, and Raven pulled her into a tight hug before teleporting herself behind a pillar in the main room. Zatanna flipped open her communicator and dialed Robin.

Jinx and Raven locked eyes from the corners of their, respective, hiding places. With a small nod, Jinx's eyes glowed a bright pink. Raven readied herself behind her pillar, crouching down low. Waiting for her cue. Jinx took a breath and visualized the area that Harley and the others were standing on. With a wave of her hand the ground below the villains sparked and cracked in bright pink lights. A flash of pink energy erupted from behind them, and the Janitor – along with the money- fell through a hole in the ground. Harley turned around just in time to see the hole fix itself closed. A wicked grin filled Harley's face " looks like the kids have come out to play. Boys, I think you're long over do for a play date." Bonk and Leslie 2 pulled strange guns from under their shirts. Each with a boxing glove over the end of it. Jinx flicked her wrist again and the chandelier above the villains sparked pink before falling loose.

Harley yelled and they all jumped away from under the heavy object. Raven saw her cue and rocketed towards Harley as she was getting up. Harley saw her coming and pressed a button on the side of her machine gun. Several loud booms went off below them, shaking the building and causing debris to fall from the ceiling. The floor split open from the force and fire and smoke poured out. Raven avoided the falling debris, with some skillful flying, but not the butt of Harley's machine gun. Bonk and Leslie 2 had found Jinx when she tripped from the floor explosions, and began firing rocket propelled gloves at her. She quickly avoided each one with expert acrobatics and speed. Flipping, vaulting, and cartwheeling along the walls and behind pillars. The gloves stuck to whatever surface they came in contact with, exploding just a few seconds later. Bud And Lou gave Raven chase as Harley let loose with her machine gun, a rain of bullets perforated the walls as Raven flew by.

Harley stopped her barrage and asked nonchalantly "So where's bird-brain? I was, kinda, hopin' that he'd show and give us some fun for a while." Raven promised her that he was on his way with enough fire power to but The Joker to shame. "Yeah right. Not even Superman has that kinda firepower, and he's got eye lasers! And an army of kids ain't nuthin' compared to Batman. So what makes ya' think that you rugrats can stand up tah Mistah Jay when Bat-jerk can't even stop him?" She didn't give Raven a chance to answer. She pressed another button in the side of her machine gun, and threw it like a boomerang. The explosion knocked Raven out of the air into one of the few pillars that were still standing.

Jinx saw Raven get hit, and got distracted. A boxing glove landed on her chest, and slammed her into the wall behind her before exploding. Bonk and Leslie 2 began jumping in victory. Harley skipped up to them and enveloped them in a hug. "Oh, boys! I'm so proud of you!" Harley squealed her admiration. "BUD! LOU! Bring the cape over here." The hyenas did as they were told and dragged Raven across the floor and set her down next to the pile of rubble that was Jinx. Harley stood over her conquest, looking proud. "Now our little girl said that there'd be three of 'em. Find the other one." Bonk and Leslie 2 nodded, and shared a quick grin, before leaving Harley to her devices. "Now, let's see. I have a bird, but it's the wrong bird. And I have a…pink…thing." Harley didn't know what she could do to the pair. She'd been preparing for Robin and had left little compromise, had she captured the wrong teen.

"Ah, well" Harley shrugged, "guess I'll clip this birds wings for starters." Harley pulled a small, metal rod from under her jester's hat. "Then." She pressed a small button on the side, it tripled in length and the end expanded. "I'll figure a way to turn pink-" The new weight at the end of the rod brought it crashing to the ground; a small crater cupped the end of the sledgehammer. "-to black and blue."

Harley raised the hammer above her head with an inhuman strength. "Bye bye, Birdie!" With a grunt, Harley brought the hammer down towards Raven's head.

-0-0-

"HARLEY!" The Joker's raspy voice echoed around the empty hideout. "BOYS!" He'd been napping in his makeshift study, and it showed. He wore nothing more than a purple bathrobe and green fuzzy slippers. A plush Batman was cradled in one arm while the other was clenched in a rising anger. "WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYBODY!" His eye twitching and veins popping he decided to skip being furious and go straight to breakfast. "Whatever." The joker poured a bowl a cereal and took a seat at a small table. "If they wanna be late, let 'em be late. It's not like they do anything important in my plans anyways." He munched on the marshmallow cereal with a bored face. "Useless is what they are." The Joker pulled a remote out of his robe pocket and clicked on the TV in front of his recliner in the center of the room.

Most the of the hideout was in total darkness. Only a few ceiling lights showed where anything was. Rings of light encircled the furniture and fixtures. He got up from the small table and made his way to the ring that showed his chair. He quickly flipped to the news and continued munching. "A robbery at the Downtown Jump Bank is in progress with the Titans already inside." The female reporter was standing behind the police tape.

"Oh, would you look at that."

Behind her was the bank and a line of police officers trying to push past an invisible wall. "It seems the Titans have deemed this too dangerous and have closed the area off using some magick."

"Whoopty Doo! You can point out the obvious. Now Tell me something I don't already know!"

"Oh my. This just in! The Jump City Police Department have cut into the security camera feed of the bank and it seems that Harley Quinn is inside!"

"…Well would you look at that." The Joker tossed his bowl across the room and jumped from his seat. "WHAT!?" He flung himself at the TV and gripped the sides so hard that the frame was cracked. "MAMMOTH! GIZMO!" roared The Joker. Within seconds the two were standing at attention behind The Joker. "Get the stones. We need to go grocery shopping."

Gizmo and Mammoth shared a glance. "W-We?" squeaked Gizmo.

-0-0-

The hammer hit with enough force that the weight at the end cracked. Raven lay motionless underneath. "What the hell?" Harley's question was answered by a swift kick to the back of the head. Harley hit the floor with a thump, and the sledgehammer landed next to her. A light muttering filled the silence and the rocks that pinned Jinx's body were removed. "C'mon you guys!" Zatanna was frantic. She quickly muttered healing spells, knowing that it wouldn't fix everything, but it would keep her friends alive. Soon Raven's eyes blinked open.

"R-Rabbit?"

"Oh thank Merlin you're alive!" Zatanna gave Raven a rib-crushing hug. "We need to get you guys out of here!"

"What happened to Harley?"

"Knocked her out. Don't know for how long though." Raven began healing Jinx so that Zatanna could tie up Harley.

"Where's her happy little family?" Jinx woke in Raven's lap.

"Froze them, and left them in the ladies room along with their pets." Jinx tried to sit up, but Raven kept her in place with a stern glare. "I already gave Robin the passcode. He'll be here soon."

Raven gave a short nod and turned back to Jinx. "Look, Blackbird, I'm fine. I don't need-"

"You got hurt because of me." Jinx looked away from Raven and started to mumble.

"That boxing glove didn't hurt that bad."

"That's not what I meant, Lucky." Jinx flinched when Raven snapped at her.

Jinx sighed, "I know. And I'm guessing you didn't need your powers to figure it out, huh" Raven shook her head, a tear dancing at the brim of her eye. "Hey." Jinx raised a hand to wipe away the tear, but instead was caught in Raven's grasp as she nuzzled her cheek to it. "Don't be sad, Blackbird. I should have been happy for you. And I am. I know Komi will take good care of you." Raven's tears started to fall. "Don't feel bad for me, damn it!"

"We're such idiots."

"Hu-mmph!" Raven crashed her lips into Jinx's. When she pulled away Jinx was wide-eyed and blushing. "Y-Y-You…" Zatanna stared on in disbelief, wondering how people could be doing what they were doing when they had Harley Quinn less than five feet from them. "Y-You want a three-way with me and Komi!?"

Raven lightly bopped Jinx on the head and reprimanded her for being an idiot. "No, I don't want a three-way!" Jinx visibly relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. "I just want you."

"B-B-But…You…and Komi…park…WHAT?"

"Oh, you saw us? Why didn't you come over and say hi?"

"B-But, I saw you and her…together…like hugging and stuff…and in robes!"

"You two were outside in robes?" Zatanna chimed.

"Well, we went out for breakfast and she wanted to get there in a hurry-"

"B-But…ROBES!"

"That's just how we are. We're friends. Weird friends, but friends." Zatanna cringed slightly and Jinx felt herself choke a bit.

"You mean when she flirts with you…it's just a normal thing?" Zatanna needed the clarification.

"Well, yeah. It's not like she likes me like that. I'm sure she thinks the same of me."

Both Zatanna and Jinx froze for a second, thinking the exact same thing.

"How clueless is she?" Jinx and Zatanna's question was voiced behind them. "Seriously, you'd have to be thick as a rock, kid!" Harley sat cross-legged, her arms free and playing with the magick rope used to tie her up.

"H-How-"

Harley pulled a small stone from her left glove and held it up to her face. "Inquisitor stones. Makes magick, not so magickal." As if on cue, Bonk, Leslie 2, Bud, and Lou walked out of the hallway that led to the restrooms. The joined behind Harley, stretching and rubbing the stiffness out while doing so. "Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was planning on crushing the bird in hand in my hand; before I burned the one in the bush."

"Not if I can help it, Harley!"

"Well, look who it is." Behind Harley stood Robin, Beastboy, Starfire, and Cyborg. All of them battle ready. A wave of relief poured through the magick users. "It's about time Bird-Boy. My boys were wondering if they were ever going to get to play with you."

"They'll have to re-schedule." A raspy voice filled the air. Every hero froze. From the entrance of the building walked The Joker, flanking him was Mammoth and Gizmo. His purple suit was clean, pressed, and sharp. With his hands behind his back he walked between the Titans and his faithful. A deadly smile plastered on his face. "Sorry Robin ol' boy, but the family is due..." As his stare moved to Harley his voice darkened, "elsewhere." Harley didn't catch the meaning. The Titans stared on in disbelief – with the exception of Beastboy.

"Hey, CLOWN-FACE!" Beastboy's voice rang through the rubble of the destroyed bank. The Joker's smile widened. "Looks like you finally decided to show your pale face!" The Joker strode quietly to the, standing, Titans. Beastboy pushed past Robin, and puffed out his chest to meet the madman. The Joker circled around him, sizing him up, and mumbled to himself.

"Interesting…green…not too tall, not to lanky…" He continued scrutinizing the changeling. Beastboy's confidence never failing. "Tell me," The Joker whispered in Beastboy's ear, "if I skin you alive as an animal, when you transform back does the skin change back as well." Beastboy's eyes widened, he hadn't expected that. Ever since he'd heard that The Joker was in Jump City he'd waited for a flood of bad jokes and silly imagery from the, self-proclaimed, "Clown Prince of Crime." Joy buzzers and whoopee cushions were now a fleeting hope. "I only ask because it'd make a great conversation starter. I could picture it now." With every word The Joker moved closer and closer to Beastboy. His voice growing quitter and quitter, forcing Beastboy to listen harder; to make him want to hear what he was saying.

"Batman strolls into my latest lair, and sees a taxidermy green bear. He asks where I got and he leaves with a fun anecdote for him to tell Superman, while they eat beagles on that space station of theirs." Beastboy swallowed hard at the thought. His eyes moved shakily to meet the red gaze of The Joker before he fell to his hands and knees, vomiting. "He even spit up green. You need a change of color. Maybe…" The joker raised a hand to his chin, feigning deep thought. He perked up as an idea came to him. "I know!" A crowbar fell from his sleeve and into his hand. "Red!" Beastboy's boy flew across the room and landed at Cyborg's feet. His eyes blank and red blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. "Oh, damn. I was hoping for more of a splash, not a trickle. Well, an artist is only as good as his brush, I suppose." Cyrbog roared as he charged The Joker, his sonic cannons ready.

"Ah ah ah~" The Joker sang. He pulled a small device from his pocket. "We wouldn't want anything too violent to happen now, would we?" Cyborg skidded to a stop, he eyed the trigger in The Joker's hand. "Good, now I'll collect my trash and I'll leave you to your thoughts." Harley cocked her head as her love walked to her. He struck her hard with the back of his hand, and she fell to the ground. "That's for leaving without telling me." He kicked her in the ribs as she struggled to stand. "That's for taking the kids!" He stomped on her back. "That's for putting my plans in danger!" He reached his hand to her, and she took it. Her body contorted and twitched and flailed as sparks flew from their hands. "And that's for taking the car without permission."

He left her, still, twitching body and faced his underlings. "Bonk. Leslie. Drag Mommy to the car. Mammoth. Gizmo. We're leaving, grab the mutts and go." The Titans were frozen. Seeing what he had done to Beastboy and Harley had instilled a paralyzing fear. This was The Joker. This was the man that'd baffled the Greatest Detective in the world. That twisted the minds of the world's best psychologists. This was the Joker. The Joker turned to the exit, after supervising the evacuation of his underlings, "see you soon Bird-Boy."

"NO!"

A bird-erang screamed through the air and knocked the trigger out of The Joker's hand. Robin vaulted and landed on him. "I won't let you leave!" His roars sent the able-bodied Titans into action. Starfire swooped in from above, Cyborg charged straight ahead, and Raven created a wall around herself, Jinx, Zatanna and Beastboy. "It ends here Joker! I'll send you back to Gotham in a body bag if I have to!" The Joker turned his head, scanning the room. A sonic cannon pointed at his face, Starfire's hands burned with energy crackling at his head; and Robin had a bird-erang at his throat. He started laughing. A mad chuckle as the prelude to the insane cackle that filled the room. A cloud of green gas erupted from underneath The Joker. It's thickness hid his escape as Robin jumped away. His laughter faded as he escaped. "NO!"

"He went down the hallway!" Cyborg called out, his infrared vision aiding him as his fans blew the gas away. Robin followed his directions an ran after The Joker. Robin disappeared in the darkness of the hallway, a scream and a flash of light prompted Starfire to fly in after him. She returned with Robin moments later, his flesh smoked lightly. Raven let down her barriers and Cyborg collected the unconscious Beastboy. "So." Cyborg looked to his Teammates. "That's The Joker." Starfire nodded. Raven held up Jinx, who gripped at her mid-section. I knew he was bad news, but…I never expected that."

Jinx looked up from the floor, "All the more reason to stop that psycho." The others silently agreed with her.

"But before we can do anything" said Raven "we have to get everyone healed. Rabbit, I need your help getting everyone back." Raven turned to find Zatanna was gone.

-0-0-

"When's Ding Dong getting back?" The Joker asked, bored. He sat in the back seat of the van, Harley splayed on the floor.

"He said by the end of the week" Gizmo called from the driver's seat. The Joker groaned his frustration. He stared out the window and sighed. He watched the other cars spin out of control and swerve to avoid the speeding van. The Joker's gaze was pulled by a shadow on the street. He looked on, his eyebrow cocked in confusion, as a faint yellow light slowly engulfed the van.

"Seems those kids haven't learned to not peek at theirr opened the sun roof and dragged a boxing glove bazooka out with him. "Let's see if you can bob and weave! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Rockets flew at Zatanna. Rocket after rocket flew at dizzying speeds. She never stopped moving. Left. Right. Up. Down. Bonk and Leslie 2 joined in, firing their smaller rockets alongside The Joker. The street behind Zatanna never stopped shaking. The explosions shot pieces of concrete and street in every direction. Cars were piled and scattered and smoking on the sidewalks and, what was left, of the street. The Joker's laugh rang over the screeching of the van as Gizmo turned on to random streets, trying to shake the magick user. Bonk's high pitched voice chimed amongst the battle. "Birdy can fly!"

"Yes, Bonk, Birdy can fly." The Joker smiled. "And so sharply dressed to."

_I can't let him get away. I can't be scared. I can't be scared. _Zatanna was scared. _I can't let him get away! I just sat there._ Tears threatened to fill her eyes, but she clenched them away. _I can't let this monster do what he wants. He nearly killed Beastboy. He nearly killed his partner. She loved him. She loved him and he nearly killed her!_ Zatanna fired of a spell, after dodging another boxing glove. The spell erupted on Bonk's chest. Bud took Bonk's arm in his mouth and dragged the behemoth man inside. _ I can do this!_ Another spell sent Leslie 2 clawing to retreat inside the van. Zatanna's confidence soared. Another blast and the bazooka The Joker was holding was gone. As it sparked he tossed over the side, where it bounced and exploded. _He's going down!_

"Excellent shot!" The Joker cheered, clapping his hands and throwing confetti from an inside jacket pocket. "Although, I've been told," he pulled a long barrel pistol from his jacket, "that I'm pretty good to."

-0-0-

Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven commanded the search. Cyborg and Starfire taking control of Robin's and Beastboy's districts. Raven, Jinx, and Zatanna were virtually the only heroes that operated within her district. Herald, Jericho and Argent patrolled three days out of the week, the only break that the others got. Herald patrolled the Southern area of the district, Jericho the West, and Argent the East. Raven took the North and the center of her district. It had been two days since The Joker escaped. Zatanna had been missing since The Joker had destroyed half of Downtown. When they'd left the bank to chase after Zatanna, and hand Robin, Beastboy and Jinx to Wildebeest and Speedy, they saw exactly how The Joker had walked into the bank without a sound. Half of the Jump City Special Forces and Jump City Police department had been murdered with Joker Gas.

Small metal balls decorated with toothy smiles and kissy faces were scattered amongst the corpses. Cyborg nearly dropped Beastboy at the sight of the fifty people, who'd faces had been contorted into a morbid homage to the man who murdered them. Robin regained consciousness before Speedy and Wildebeest arrived to take them to the infirmary of The Tower. Raven and Starfire heard the explosions happening three blocks away. After handing off the injured the three of them chased after Zatanna, only to find that she and the villains were gone; leaving behind only more death and destruction. Burned bodies and cars littered three miles of street.

The search hadn't stopped. The Titans used every resource they had at their disposal. Cyborg checked every camera, Starfire enlisted the help of some off-world friends, and Raven searched for any trace if her aura. Nothing. Randy had asked about Zatanna not showing up for their date, and was sent home with a weak excuse of her being sick.

Raven flew above the streets. Looking for any sign of her friend. The streets had been empty since the attack. With The Joker having made a more prominent appearance, and role in crime, the mayor called for a curfew and that all major streets be monitored by squads of police and the special forces. Raven had gotten desperate. She had gone to Beau and Lily for any help that they could offer. Nothing. She hadn't slept. Her worrying kept her from any rest. She passed the entrance to the alleyway that they'd chased Gizmo down, weeks back. She thought back to when she woke up to Jinx "resuscitating" her after being drowned, and smiled. A moan, from the alleyway, wiped the smile from her face.

Raven rushed down the alley, flying as fast as her power could take her. Zig-ing and zag-ing through the turns. She finally stopped at a shadow at an intersection. Zatanna hung by her arms and neck, blood dripping from her mouth. Her arms and legs were covered in bruises and her clothes ripped and torn. Her breathing was ragged as she struggled against the rope around her throat. Cuts and welts decorated her skin, the red shining against her skin. Raven nearly held back her sickness. What truly caught her attention was the sign hanging from her midsection. The sign was attached to a long silver rod that pierced her. The red letters of the sign spelled one word. Bang.

This is The Joker.


End file.
